Metro

Et tu, Rev. Al?

ALBANY — The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of Gov. Paterson’s last remaining backers, has called an “emergency meeting” today in Harlem to reassess the governor’s ability to stay in office, The Post learned last night.

Ominously for Paterson, Sharpton refused in an interview to say if he still believes the governor should remain in the job.

Sharpton, who convened an earlier summit of black and Hispanic leaders on Paterson’s fate last Saturday that resulted in expressions of support for the embattled governor, said a second meeting was needed in the wake of several new developments.

Among them is the allegation that Paterson broke state ethics laws by accepting free World Series tickets from the Yankees and the disclosure that the governor enlisted two state employees in an alleged effort to stop a Bronx mother, who says she was beaten by her former boyfriend, now-suspended top Paterson assistant David Johnson, from obtaining an order of protection.

“We have got to evaluate where we are in light of the new things that have come out since Saturday,” Sharpton told The Post.

“I was called by [former state Comptroller] Carl McCall, who asked me to call an emergency meeting of black leaders so that we can seriously reassess where we are,” he continued.

Asked if it was possible that the meeting would result in a call to Paterson to leave office, Sharpton responded, “I don’t want to say before the meeting. It would be wrong for me to say.”

But Sharpton said some black leaders who supported Paterson last weekend “may have shifted because of the new things that have come out.”

Sharpton said the meeting would be at Sylvia’s Restaurant, the famed Harlem eatery.

His comments came after the third day of widespread confusion at the Capitol as Paterson sought to hold on to his job despite growing calls that he step down.

The governor announced last Friday that he would end his hapless campaign for election and, in a stunning development, had asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to conduct a criminal investigation related to the alleged intimidation of the Bronx mom.

Meanwhile, in what many saw as Albany’s answer to “The Twilight Zone,” Paterson sought to hold a business-as-usual “leaders meeting” with lawmakers at which he repeated a series of stock phrases he’s used many times about the state’s worsening fiscal plight.

Paterson again insisted he would stay in office through the end of the year, contending, “I think it’s better for the state for me to stay here right now. I’ve been working on this budget process all the way, all the way through now.”

Moments before, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who has said he believes Paterson can stay in office pending the outcome of what are now two criminal investigations, raised eyebrows by seeming to hint that the governor won’t be around much longer.

“The governor is the governor right now. We have no choice,” said Silver.

A Silver aide later insisted the speaker only meant that he was prepared to negotiate a budget with whoever is the governor.

Additional reporting by Maggie Haberman and Jennifer Gould Keil

fredric.dicker@nypost.com