Opinion

The sounds of silence

The City Council has signed off on a new budget for New York, and none of the usual piggies is squealing.

That can’t be a good thing, from a public-policy point of view — because quiet pigs are usually pigs with full bellies.

Which explains the silence from the United Federation of Teachers.

Of course, the UFT has Council Speaker Chris Quinn to speak on its behalf — which she did earlier this week.

“With this budget, I think all of us in City Hall have made clear that the children of New York City are without a doubt our No. 1 priority,” she said.

By children, of course, she means “public unions.” Indeed, moments later she virtually admitted as much: “What we’ve done with this budget agreement [is] . . . prevented the layoffs of 400 teachers’ aides.”

See, for Quinn, who’s running hard for mayor, it’s the unions that are the top of to-please list. They are to be protected — no matter how tight the budget, no matter how strapped the taxpayer.

Of course, she’s hardly alone.

“I applaud the City Council for restoring child-care services and after-school programs [and] avoiding teacher layoffs,” said ex-City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Translation: More money for teachers, less for taxpayers.

And that spells bad news for the city after Mayor Bloomberg leaves office next year.

Actually, there’s no need to wait even that long. As Nicole Gelinas noted in these pages this week, this year’s $70 billion budget deal balances the books only with the help of some hefty one-time cash plugs.

After that money — $2.3 billion worth — is gone, new funds will have to be found to stave off budget cuts.

The deal also raids a $2.5 billion fund set up to cover retiree benefits. And it relies on the sale of taxi medallions, $1.5 billion worth over three years, that may be bogged down in the courts . . . forever.

Meanwhile, next year’s spending is already $2.5 billion in the red — and plans for both will grow a whole lot worse if the economy weakens further.

Who knows?

Maybe the piggies will be squealing for real next year.