ON THE ROPESFlailing wildlyhttp://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004806.php[New York Daily News] Joe Lhota, a deputy mayor in Giuliani's City Hall, told the Daily News Wednesday night that the administration's practice of allocating security expenses to small city offices that had nothing to do with mayoral protection has "gone on for years" and "predates Giuliani."When told budget officials from