By Bernadette Hogan and Carl Campanile
Legendary Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher famously said, “Nice guys finish last.” Don’t tell that to the current handful of Republicans sitting on the New York City Council.
The five GOP members were real team players during the $101 billion budget negotiations led by Democratic Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mayor Eric Adams — and made out like bandits.
Meanwhile, six progressive Democrats who voted against the spending plan lost out on the extra funding for their constituents.
Council Republicans Inna Vernikov (Brooklyn), Vicky Paladino and Joann Ariola (Queens) and Staten Island’s David Carr and Joe Borelli were included in Speaker Adams’ roughly $41 million pot of discretionary funding for district-specific issues.
But the crew of hard-left lawmakers were left off Adams’ pet project list — a punishment that will be felt by the folks who voted them in — for their ‘no’ vote Monday night that they broadcast ahead of time, sources said. 
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Tiffany Cabán, Sandy Nurse, Alexa Avilés, Chi Ossé, Charles Barron and Kristin Richardson Jordan were excluded from the funding. Conservative-leaning Democrat Kalman Yeger was also left off Adams’ special list.
“At a very brass-tacks level, we’re responsible for making sure the grass gets cut in the parks and when you call 911, somebody comes. We can’t just stand on our soap boxes,” Council Minority Leader Borelli told The Post. He’s also the sole GOP member on the Council’s budget negotiation team.
“New Yorkers expect a level of competent service delivery in government and someone has to do it. It’s such a tactical error to declare yourself a ‘no’ and then ask for the bells and whistles. Some folks just don’t want to stop being full-time activists.”
Reps for Cabán, Nurse, Avilés, Ossé, Barron, Richardson Jordan and Yeger did not respond to requests for comment.
Freshman pol Vernikov told The Post she has a good relationship with Speaker Adams. “This demolishes the false narrative that Republicans can’t get things done,” said Vernikov. “I really like Speaker Adams. We work well together. This shows that Republicans can get things done. We can work with Democrats.”
She said all the key funding requests she submitted to Adams were approved as part of the speaker’s discretionary fund including $1.9 million for a playground in Brighton Beach and $2.9 million for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The GOP also won out on a $90 million property tax rebate for homeowners who make less than $250,000 annually, which will provide an estimated $150 in relief per homeowner, as well as keeping the NYPD’s budget flat at roughly $5.5 billion.
A Democratic council member who requested anonymity said the ‘no’ votes were perplexing, as the lefties scored wins such as the $10 million fund to help provide child care for illegal immigrants — a measure that was left out of the $220 billion state budget earlier this year.
“Republicans fought for the property tax debate and when they got it, they all went out and supported it. The difference is that the lefties achieved most of what they wanted in the budget, but trapped themselves for political reasons,” said the pol.5What do you think? Post a comment.
The penalty doesn’t mean money was cut from the offending members’ districts, just that they won’t be privy to extra money directed by Adams. Roughly $500 million is split between all 51 districts.
The city’s budget passed by a vote of 44 to 6 just after 11 p.m on Monday night.