Source: Sally Goldenberg and Ginger Adams Otis / New York Post

Freshman City Councilwoman Liz Crowley played with fire and got burned.

The Queens Democrat learned a hard lesson during recent negotiations for the 2011 city budget: Don’t anger Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Crowley got the least amount of member-item money in the 2011 budget — approximately $358,000 — as punishment for prematurely sending out a press release two weeks ago announcing 20 firehouses had been saved, and hogging all the credit, sources told the Post.

“It showed that [Crowley] doesn’t understand the deference she needs to pay to the speaker of the council. She knows it now. Lesson learned,” said a City Council source.

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