Goal line stand Bloomy's forte OT in stadium fight no surprise

BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

In Mayor Bloomberg's private City Hall office, there's a pillow on his couch with the inscription, "Do not start with me. You will not win."

It's a line that suggests a certain tenacity - stubbornness, critics might say - that the mayor is exhibiting in abundance this weekend as he continues his quest to build a West Side stadium.

Faced with certain defeat Friday on a key Albany vote, Bloomberg dodged, saying he would negotiate all weekend with state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) to win their support by tomorrow.

Negotiations between staffs continued yesterday with no deal yet, in part because Silver was observing the Jewish Sabbath.

"I hope it will go the way that's in the interests of the City of New York," Bloomberg said. "This is what New York City needs. I hope everybody will come to that conclusion."

It's not the first time that Bloomberg, with his back against the wall, has found a way to live another day. Many said he'd never win his race for City Hall, or get control of city schools, or balance three budgets without substantial service cuts.

Yet he did, often with a flurry of activity at the eleventh hour.

Whether he will prevail this time in his quest to build a new home for the Jets and possibly the Olympics is far from certain. But this much is clear: If he loses, it won't be for lack of trying.

No other issue or project has consumed more of Bloomberg's time or energy in the past three years than the stadium. And he's not about to quit now.

"You should never count this guy out," said Baruch College Prof. Doug Muzzio. "He is a tireless businessman who has made a career out of defying expectations, and he wants this bad. And the longer it takes, the more he wants it."

The political calculus for the mayor is more complicated.

If Bloomberg gets the stadium but not the Olympics - he has insisted he will pursue the stadium for the Jets with or without the 2012 Games - he gives his rivals an extra club with which to hammer away at his priorities.

As former Bronx borough president and mayoral hopeful Fernando Ferrer said last week, "When is the mayor going to see that New Yorkers don't want a playground for the rich? They want good schools for their kids, trains that run on time and an affordable, safe place to live."

The mayor's counterpunch is that the stadium will spur development of hotels and businesses on the West Side, while also serving as a much-needed expansion of the Javits Convention Center.

"If we get the stadium, we will get jobs - pure and simple," said Bill Cunningham, a senior Bloomberg strategist. "The Olympics only add more."

Many believe the best political outcome for Bloomberg would be for the stadium to die in Albany - allowing him to blame the state for its failure while removing it as a campaign issue.

With Jose Martinez