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by MAGGIE HABERMAN
Cops and firefighters tried to paint Mayor Bloomberg as "Mr. Out of Touch" yesterday, with flyers and billboards branding him a billionaire who cares more about stadiums than uniformed workers.
The move to portray the megabucks media mogul as unfair to common people came on the fourth day of protests by police, firefighters and teachers outside Madison Square Garden, where the Republicans will hold their national convention in August.
"Billionaire Bloomberg has plenty of money for football stadiums but none for police officers and firefighters," one flyer says, referring to Bloomberg's support for a new Jets stadium on Manhattan's West Side.
Another screams, "Billionaire Bloomberg says pay for your own raises. Police and firefighters pay every day...in blood."
Cops and firefighters have been working without a contract since 2002. City teachers' contract expired last year.
The flyers urge people to call 311, the city's information line, to demand raises for the workers. Two 16-foot-long mobile billboards with the unions' message will hit the streets for a week, starting today.
"This is only the beginning," said Uniformed Firefighters Association head Steve Cassidy. "Firefighters and police officers believe we're in a unique struggle with this mayor over a critically important issue."
Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler said, "One of the reasons the mayor became wealthy is because he knows how to negotiate. If the members of these unions were fortunate, they would have leaders that were capable of doing that so they could get well-deserved raises."
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