Mike's sneaky 'getaway'

Andrea Peyser

Let them eat sugar-free gourmet vegan cake topped with 24-karat gold leaf.

We knew Mayor Bloomberg was stinking rich, frequently clueless and often in Bermuda. But the mayor, whose disastrous third term brought us Snowmageddon, budget bupkis and Cathie Black, has made a move that seems unusually crafty.

To his sextet of sumptuous houses -- in Manhattan, Florida, London, Bermuda, Vail, Colo., and Westchester, where his horsewoman daughter hangs out -- the bachelor mayor is quietly adding a show-stopping, $20 million-plus Georgian mansion in the Hamptons.

He's signed a contract on a cute, little shack of 22,000 square feet. Most New Yorkers don't even go bowling in such monstrous spaces. Bloomberg's Little House on the Shore in Shinnecock Hills sits on one of the plushest golf courses in the nation and boasts 11 bedrooms, The Post's Jennifer Gould Keil reported. Bathrooms total eight, with another half-bath thrown in for guests Bloomy doesn't want spending the night.

An exercise in conspicuous consumption? Or a smart move? The estate features a tree-lined, half-mile approach to discourage paparazzi and former aides. But it may have little to do with Bloomberg forming a buffer from his onetime pal, the vehicularly challenged, fired Schools Chancellor Cathie Black, who hit a bunch of trees as she backed out of a jolly Hamptons party this month.

Bloomberg's acquisition seems to have everything to do with bypassing a proposed city law.

Last month, to overwhelming support, City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. introduced legislation -- I'll call it the "Where in the World is Mike?" bill -- that would require any mayor who travels more than 250 miles from the city for 24 hours, or who leaves the country for even a minute, to disclose that he's taking a hike. (He won't have to tell if he's going to Washington or Albany, where this year, Bloomberg got humiliated by Gov. Cuomo at budget time.)

Bloomberg is said to be furious over the move, which came about after he was found to be in Bermuda as the post-Christmas blizzard of 2010 bore down on the city. But if the bill passes, and indications are that it will, Bloomberg will have avoided the law by sitting pretty in the Hamptons, which falls within the 250-mile "Where's Mike?" radius.

"I think it's fair speculation on our part that he's anticipating passage of this bill," said one government source who's watching the action.

A mayoral spokeswoman won't comment on the mansion. On the proposed legislation, she was more chatty: