After springing for more than $102 million to win a third term, Mayor Bloomberg has decided to shut the cash spigot — he’s not holding a reception after his inauguration, sources told The Post.
It’s a surprising decision for a billionaire who spent $2.5 million on his inauguration and transition in 2001 and $1.7 million in 2005 — and has never hesitated to dip into his own pocket for a celebration.
A source said the mayor intended to tour the city after the inauguration and take part in volunteer activities, including creating care packages at Staten Island Borough Hall to ship to the troops overseas.
The receptions in past years followed the traditional New Year’s Day swearing-in ceremony of the three citywide officials and attracted thousands who got to warm up and chow down with hot beverages and a variety of snacks.
What’s different this time is that there’s less to celebrate.
In his first run, Bloomberg was a novice politician who pulled off a stunning victory over the Democratic favorite, Mark Green. In his second election, the mayor clobbered challenger Fernando Ferrer by nearly 20 percentage points.
But Bloomberg will be entering his third term after defeating opponent Bill Thompson by less than 5 points — after working to loosen the term-limits law so he could run for a third term.
The city’s economy also remains shaky, with the unemployment rate at 10 percent.
Just a couple of weeks after taking the oath of office, Bloomberg will have to decide which budget cuts he’ll accept from agency heads, who were asked to provide a list of $1.77 billion in possible reductions.
Layoffs are a distinct possibility.
“It’s going to be short and sweet,” a source said about the inaugural.
The Mayor’s Office declined comment.
Several people who’ve been invited in the past started noticing they hadn’t yet received invitations to the usual festivities.
The other two citywide officials — Comptroller-elect John Liu and Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio — are planning inaugural shindigs.
It’s not clear how many people will be attending the event for Liu, the first Asian-American to achieve citywide office, since he’s arguing with the Mayor’s Office over how inaugural tickets will be distributed.
One source said that Liu aides requested 1,800 tickets, nearly triple the 650 given to his predecessor, Thompson, in 2005, and wanted to give them out themselves.
The source said mayoral aides agreed to the number but insisted on getting a list of names so they could handle the distribution.
“It’s a security issue,” said the source.
City Hall Plaza, the scene of the inauguration, can accommodate up to 5,000.
But the winter weather sometimes thins the crowd.
Former Mayor Ed Koch, who has attended every inauguration since his first election to the job in 1977, likened the experience on one particularly frigid day to visiting the Arctic.