FOR THE RECORD

Governor Paterson's revelations about past strayings from his wedding vows during a rocky point in his marriage don't seem to have hurt him with voters, based on a poll conducted while those dalliances were coming to light.

Seventy-five percent of those surveyed by Quinnipiac University said they believed the new top state official would govern effectively, and 67 percent believed he would restore trust in state government. The poll of 1,528 registered voters was conducted from March 16 to 18; Mr. Paterson made his first public disclosures of infidelity on the middle day of the survey, shortly after his swearing in.

Quinnipiac polling director Mickey Carroll noted that while slightly more than half of the respondents said they didn't know enough about the new Governor to form an opinion, nearly two-thirds knew his name and "hardly anyone has a low opinion of him."

Asked about their choice for Governor in November 2010, shortly before the current gubernatorial term will expire, 29 percent said they favored Mayor Bloomberg, should he run, with 27 percent preferring Mr. Paterson, 25 percent opting for Rudy Giuliani and 11 percent naming State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as the right person for the job.

Two days after his inauguration, Mr. Paterson stood with his potentially most-formidable rival in the City Hall Blue Room addressing reporters after they met privately for nearly an hour, with the Mayor's congestion-pricing plan the primary topic of their discussion.

The new Governor said Mr. Bloomberg "made a very persuasive argument" for the proposal (two days later he introduced a bill the Mayor lauded). He also indicated it was regrettable but necessary that increases in school aid be reduced somewhat, and said that if the faltering state economy "leveled off now where it was, I think we can cut [the budget deficit] without raising taxes."

He said that even as he supports fellow Democrats who are seeking to wrest control of the State Senate from Republicans, he expects to continue his smooth working relationship with Senator Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Referring to the period prior to his being elected Lieutenant Governor when he served as Senate Minority Leader, Governor Paterson said, "Joe Bruno and I worked together for four years. We really seemed to understand the difference between governing and campaigning."

When reporters sought to shift the questioning to Mr. Paterson's admissions of cheating on his wife earlier in the decade, the new Governor said of his candor the previous two days, "Maybe it was too much information."

Mr. Bloomberg stepped in when this line of questioning continued, saying, "Let me try to answer that for him ... Let's get on with it. I'm concerned with how we're going to fund mass transit."

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Proving that one institution's sex-scandal is another's excuse for a lively seminar, John Jay College will hold several panel discussions March 26 around the theme, "Investigating and Defending the Highest-Profile Individuals - And, Everything You Need to Know About Bank Regulation and Money-Laundering."

All those elements figured into the probe that led to Governor Spitzer's resignation and a continuing Federal inquiry that may eventually place him in the criminal dock. The most intriguing panel discussion will feature four prominent lawyers who have been at the center of some of New York's especially memorable public-corruption cases.

They are Edward McDonald, the former head of the Organized Crime Strike Force in New York's Eastern District; Alan Vinegrad, the former U.S. Attorney in that jurisdiction, which covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island; Tom Puccio, whose clients have included former Deputy Mayor and Bronx Democratic boss Stanley Friedman; and Gerry Shargel, who is best known for defending John Gotti and his son but also represented former police union lawyer Richie Hartman and longtime DC 37 Local 372 President Charlie Hughes.

The seminars run from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and are open at no charge to the public. They will be held in Room 630 at John Jay, located at 899 10th Ave. in Manhattan.