The Rev. Al Sharpton said last night after a meeting of influential black leaders that most want Gov. Paterson to stay in office during a probe into his administration — for now.
Sharpton personally stopped short of endorsing Paterson serving out his full term, but the statements after the meeting were fairly similar to what was said after another session last Saturday.
Last night’s meeting was convened after a crush of new revelations about the governor’s administration.
Earlier in the day, some of those who would later attend the confab privately called for Paterson to resign — but later got “cold feet,” one source said, as it became clear how many people wanted him to remain.
Sharpton spoke after the two-hour powwow behind closed doors at Sylvia’s restaurant in Harlem that he had convened to sound out three dozen African-American lawmakers and other prominent community leaders.
“Most of us in the room strongly felt the governor should stay,” Sharpton told reporters.
He stressed that no one was condoning violence against women by doing that — a reference to the domestic-abuse case involving a gubernatorial aide at the center of the scandal.
Sharpton acknowledged the opinion wasn’t unanimous, but said all participants agreed they didn’t want to do anything that would interfere with Paterson’s “due-process rights.”
“It seems there are many more concerned with feeding the frenzy of scandal,” Sharpton said, adding that Paterson shouldn’t be “tried by media and allegation and accusation.”
Among those who took part in the meeting were former Mayor David Dinkins, ex-state Comptroller Carl McCall, one-time NAACP chief Hazel Dukes, and Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens.
Sharpton said that the leaders were concerned that the business of the state move forward and that they planned to meet soon with Paterson and legislative leaders.
But Dinkins told reporters he thought there was agreement that the embattled governor should be allowed to finish the current term — a point Sharpton demurred on later when asked about it.
“I told you what I think,” Sharpton said, adding that people needed assurances that Paterson “can govern.”
“I think he should meet [with officials] and then we’ll see. There were [some] dissenting views.”
Several people, among them Meeks and Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, strongly endorsed the notion of the governor finishing his term.
McCall, who had earlier expressed questions about whether Paterson can govern, said his own “concerns were addressed” at the meeting.
“The governor has a lawyer, they’re dealing with that,” he said. “But, as you can see, there is a major concern about how the government should function.”
The session was contentious at times, as anger was vented against some officials who had called for Paterson’s resignation, participants said.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who recently said Paterson should quit — and who is a close ally of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — was singled out.
Earlier, state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs told a large group of party leaders that Paterson has a “limited’ time frame to confront the mushrooming scandal, sources told The Post.
But Jacobs also told the various county chairs in a conference call not to urge Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to enter the gubernatorial race until his probe of Paterson and his aides and state-trooper detail is wrapped up.