Confusion Reigns in Albany; Shocking News About Coup Leader

The clowns are running the show in Albany. Only at this juncture nobody can say with any certainty which clowns.

Confusion gripped the Capitol and the Senate chamber remained dark yesterday, as Democrats feverishly scrambled to regain control after a Republican coup knocked them out of the box.

Deposed Senate leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) accused the Democratic mutineers of rank extortion and influence peddling.

The fast-paced, never-before-seen developments at the Capitol yesterday included:

* Senate business -- usually at a fever pitch in June -- ground to a halt yesterday while Democrats mulled legal action to delay a session scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

* Rumors swirled that a handful of other Democratic lawmakers were preparing to defect to the Republicans.

* The White House even jumped into the fray, trying to save Democratic control of the state Senate.

* More chaos loomed with the GOP threatening to hold a session in a public park near the Capitol today if Democrats failed to hand over keys to the gilded chamber.

"There is no constitutional requirement that we'll meet in that room," said Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., the Bronx Democrat who defected along with Hiram Monserrate of Queens to give the GOP a 32-30 working majority. "We'll just have to take it outside."

Meanwhile, Fred Dicker says Paterson has gotten what he's deserved.

The breathtaking coup that appears to have ousted Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith could claim what remains of Gov. Paterson's political career.

Not only is Paterson's record-high, tax-and-spend budget being blamed for pushing two Senate Democrats into the ranks of the Republicans, his claims to be a fiscally prudent government reformer are about to be put to the test in a way that could not have been imagined just a few days ago.

The new Republican/Democratic alliance that voted Monday to remove Smith is preparing to vote over the next two weeks on a range of conservative-oriented reforms, including a cap on state spending, a cap on local school property taxes, and the re-establishment of the popular STAR property tax rebates, which were abolished by Paterson's budget.

The problem for the unelected Paterson, who polls show is the most unpopular governor in the nation, is that he's proposed and supported both tax caps -- but he did so at a time when he was certain that neither would pass a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Still, for my money the biggest shock to come out of this mess, orchestrated by Tom Golisano?

Dig this.

AMID all the chaos in Albany, the upstate billionaire at the center of the state Senate upheaval yesterday coyly confirmed he's dating tennis great Monica Seles.

Buffalo Sabres owner and upstate king-maker Thomas Golisano, 67 -- credited with convincing two rogue Democratic senators to join forces with the GOP -- has been spotted for months squiring around Seles, 35.

When asked yesterday if the two were a pair, the normally unflappable Paychex founder -- who was making the interview rounds all over the state capital -- seemed taken aback.

"Why do you want to know?" said Golisano, clearly more comfortable talking policy than romance.

Finally, the thrice-divorced Golisano told The Post's Jennifer Fermino, "Monica and I see each other."

The May-December pair first raised eyebrows last year, when Golisano brought her to a ceremony recognizing his $10 million donation to Niagara University.

He also brought Seles to a Sabres game, where the Tennis Hall of Famer sat with him and former President Bill Clinton. And, when asked in a Forbes.com article last fall what the coolest number in his cellphone was, Golisano crowed, "Monica Seles.' "