Michael Grynbaum reports that New Yorkers are getting cranky about Janette Sadik-Khan’s crusade against cars, her aggressive advocacy for bicyclists, and her brusque effectiveness. All I have to say is that if Stephen Goldsmith, New York city’s deputy mayor for operations and a highly successful Republican mayor of Indianapolis, doesn’t run, JSK could be the best candidate for mayor of New York in 2013. Given that there are no strong electable conservatives on the horizon, JSK’s toughness could make her the next best thing.

I have no idea what JSK believes on non-transportation issues, but this passage made me think I’d love to see her negotiating with the city’s unions:

“She couldn’t care less whether you like her or not,” said a city official who has been close to Ms. Sadik-Khan for years and insisted on anonymity for fear of straining the friendship. “She doesn’t suffer people who don’t support her lightly. She’ll scream right back.”
Another high-ranking official, fearful that being named could get him fired, recalled a heated conversation that culminated in Ms. Sadik-Khan’s announcing that she planned to remake New York City’s streets, “and people are going to have to get used to it.”
“She has an absolute certainty that she’s correct,” said Lewis A. Fidler, a council member from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, who has clashed with Ms. Sadik-Khan over bicycle lanes. “I guess it’s nice to go through life with that kind of certainty, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate in government.”

As a general matter, I’m against dogmatism and self-righteousness, but it has its place in municipal politics. Or at least Chicago voters think so.

I realize that JSK will almost certainly not run for mayor. But why the heck not?