Mayor Bloomberg was angry when the bus and subway strike was just a possibility – but yesterday, when the illegal strike became a reality, the mayor started using words like “selfish,” “thuggish,” and “unconscionable,” to describe the Transport Workers Union members and their actions.

“The leadership of the TWU has thuggishly turned their backs on New York City and disgraced the noble concept of public service,” Mr. Bloomberg said, surrounded by his top commissioners and deputy mayors.

He continued: “The strike is costing us. It is costing people their jobs. It will cost billions in lost economic activity. It is robbing people of their opportunities to earn a living and provide for their families. It will hurt hard working New Yorkers struggling to get into the middle class and get benefits and health insurance as generous as TWU members get. It is costing students their opportunity to learn.”

Mr. Bloomberg – who has argued for days that a strike could wind up wreaking not just economic hardship on New Yorkers, but actual physical harm – said emergency response times have not slowed as a result of the strike, but he said a police officer on a strike-related assignment was seriously injured and sent to the hospital when he was hit by a car.

He also said 911 received about 15% more calls than usual and the citizen hotline, 311, received more than 175,000 calls, setting a new record.

“Nobody has ever deliberately tried to hurt the people of this city during my watch in such an explicit way,” he said. “This is just unconscionable.”

The mayor said the city would “use every avenue available under the law” to force the transit workers back to work. There was no sign yesterday that the city was going to move to arrest the union president, Roger Toussaint, or other union members, but officials did not rule out the possibility.

Mr. Bloomberg – who slept at the Office of Emergency Management bunker in Brooklyn on Monday night, where he plans to stay until the end of the strike – said if it were up to him, the contract negotiations would not resume until the transport union workers return to work.

“The problem is not the negotiations for a contract. The problem is there is an illegal strike going on and until the workers go back, I don’t think anybody should be negotiating anything,” he said. “You can’t break the law and then use that as a negotiating tactic. The public, the city, the state, and the country will not stand for that.”

Governor Pataki, who appoints the majority of the MTA’s board members, indicated yesterday that he agreed with that position.

At an afternoon appearance in Manhattan, Mr. Pataki said, “I have one comment to the TWU: End the illegal strike, come back to the table. The MTA is still there, they have been, and are willing and will continue to negotiate in good faith.”