Andrew Cuomo (Shannon DeCelle)
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It’s back to the future in New York politics.
After years of relative calm between the Governor’s Office and City Hall, sparks are flying once again between the state’s two most powerful pols.
Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo don’t personally get along, sources told The Post.
And neither do their staffers, who don’t hesitate to mock their boss’ rival.
Bloomberg and Cuomo disagree on a host of issues and nowhere is it clearer than in lower Manhattan.
In recent weeks, sources told The Post, the mayor’s aides have openly tried to cut Cuomo’s staff out of planning for the ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
And one of the key reasons for the governor’s decision to remove Christopher Ward as executive director of the Port Authority — which is rebuilding the World Trade Center — is that he’s viewed as “a Bloomberg guy,” Cuomo confidants said.
“It’s a dance, and the dance didn’t start off right,” said one political insider.
Hizzoner and the governor have also disagreed on:
* Cuomo’s first state budget, which included spending cuts the mayor termed “an outrage.”
* Reforming teacher-tenure rules that require public-school layoffs to be based on seniority rather than merit. Bloomberg champions the elimination of “last in, first out” and Cuomo introduced a plan that left LIFO in place.
* The best way to reform the public-pension system. Cuomo was originally proposing a plan that covered only state and noncity public employees, but the mayor wanted New York City added. When the long-awaited plan was unveiled last week, the city was included.
Not since then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani snubbed his fellow Republican George Pataki — endorsing Democrat Mario Cuomo, Andy’s dad, for re-election as governor in 1994 — has the tension been so high.
The Andrew Cuomo-Bloomberg relationship may not be as heated as those between their predecessors, but Cuomo has been in office only five months.
“In the history of mayor-governor animosities, it’s not as bad as it has been,” said one political operative familiar with both men.
Complicating things is the fact that Bloomberg has spent most of his decade in City Hall working with governors who were weak or disengaged.
“They’ve never had a powerful governor here,” said a Cuomo official. “They want their way and they’re used to having their way. And that’s not how it is anymore.”