Metro

Thompson’s vow on cops & taxes

No tax increases and more cops.

Bill Thompson sought to reassure the city’s business community yesterday that he’d protect both the public’s safety and pocketbook if he becomes mayor next year.

“We must not take one step back from the public- safety gains of the last quarter century,” Thompson declared in a speech before the Association for a Better New York at the New York Hilton.

He pledged to grow the police force by more than 2,000 cops, to 37,000, and to deploy 1,000 of the new cops to five precincts with the highest crime rates.

The former city comptroller was vague on where he’d find an extra $200 million to pay for the extra cops, explaining that he would do a “line by line” review to extract savings from the $70 billion budget.

But he vowed that tax hikes were off the table.

“Let me be blunt, so there’s no misunderstanding: I’m not raising taxes,” Thompson told reporters afterward. “What you heard me talking about was redirecting dollars.”

His stance stood in stark contrast to that of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, one of his rivals for the Democratic nod, who has suggested raising taxes on those earning $500,000 or more to expand pre-K classes.

Thompson also had his sights on City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, linking her to Mayor Bloomberg and charging the two engaged in a “1-2 punch of fiscal irresponsibility” by producing budgets filled with one-shots and nonrecurring revenues.

Quinn campaign spokesman Mike Morey said her policies helped pull the city out of the recession.