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Bloomberg coy on Cuomo endorsement

It was at least two school bells shy of a ringing endorsement.

Even though he praised Gov. Cuomo for doing a “very good job,” Mayor Bloomberg wouldn’t say Tuesday if he’ll back Cuomo’s re-election bid in 2014.

The mayor even cut the length of Cuomo’s current tenure in half when trying to lob a compliment his way.

“Governor Cuomo has done a very good job for the year-and-a-half he’s been governor I guess,” Bloomberg began to say at Bedford Academy HS in Bedford-Stuyvesant. “How long has he been governor now?”

When a reporter said it had been three years, Bloomberg responded, “Three years? Three years. Well he’s done such a good job it seems like a short period of time.”

In 2010, Bloomberg said he was “proud” to endorse Cuomo in the race against upstate Republican Carl Paladino.

“He has time and time again made performance and integrity his top priorities in government,” Bloomberg said at the time.

But he dodged a question Tuesday of a second endorsement, claiming he’s not sure Cuomo is running again.

In fact, Cuomo has amassed a $30 million campaign war chest for his re-election drive.

“We’ll have to see – he has not asked me to endorse him. He’s not told me that he’s running – so I don’t know,” said the mayor. “It’s a hypothetical question that you could never expect me to answer.”