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BIG WIN FOR MIKE

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge yesterday blocked an 11th-hour attempt to stop today’s vote on extending term limits, as Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn kept up the pressure on council members to support the bill.

EDITORIAL: A Fateful Council Vote

Justice Jacqueline Silbermann said it would be inappropriate for the court to block a legislative vote from going forward. “This goes to the very heart of our democracy,” attorney Randy Mastro had argued.

Mastro, who brought the suit to halt the vote on behalf of council members Bill de Blasio and Letitia James, both Brooklyn Democrats, added: “This is the most important case I’ve ever had in my life. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake.”

The ruling capped off another day of intense, behind-the-scenes wrangling, with Bloomberg and Quinn feverishly working to secure a comfortable victory margin on a bill that would allow all city officials to run for third terms.

At least one councilman who was initially in the “no” column, Bronx Democrat James Vacca, was believed to be succumbing to repeated personal entreaties by Bloomberg.

“At this point he’s just talking to so many people per minute that we’re really just hearing everybody out right now,” was all Vacca’s spokesman, Bret Collazzi, would say last night. “I think he’s treating this with an open mind. A lot can change.”

De Blasio, the bill’s most vocal opponent, called the last-minute pressure “disgusting.”

“It is unprecedented and it cannot be allowed to happen,” he said. “This is a disgrace. It’s in [Quinn’s] self-interest more than anybody except for Mike Bloomberg. She should be ashamed.”

Three council members who are undecided – Gale Brewer and Alan Gerson of Manhattan, and David Yassky of Brooklyn – said they would introduce an amendment to extend term limits through a public referendum.

If the amendment passes, there would be no vote on the mayor’s bill.

Proponents of the amendment worked the phones feverishly yesterday to secure votes.

Sources said three council members, Jessica Lappin, Michael McMahon and Anthony Como, were given the green light by the mayor and Quinn to vote down the mayor’s bill as long as they vote against the amendment.

“I resent that. That’s just ridiculous. That’s not how I operate,” Lappin said.

She said she intends to vote against both the bill and the amendment.

Como and McMahon did not return calls for comment.

Additional reporting by David Seifman

dareh.gregorian@nypost.com