The day after the Post's Fred Dicker reported that David Paterson called Michael Bloomberg a liar (among several other not-so-nice things), all parties involved are feeling a wee bit defensive today. Bloomberg dismissed suggestion that relations had frayed ("He and I never had an acrimonious relationship"), although Paterson only half-denied it, allowing that Dicker could have heard something to that effect, but that he didn't get the story straight. But Dicker isn't about to let the story go or let anyone cast suspicion on his scoop. Dicker defended his journalistic chops today and even suggests who might have leaked him the info. Oh, and for visually-minded readers, Dicker's article includes a state-of-the-art BS meter. Because you just can't argue with science.

David Paterson absolutely despises Michael Bloomberg. Or at least that's the takeaway from Fred Dicker's front page "exclusive" in the Post today, which is full of vicious soundbites supposedly uttered by New York's governor, according to Dicker's unnamed sources. Paterson's tirade comes on the heels of a showdown over the fate of the city's OTB parlors. (Bloomberg wanted to shutter the chain of seedy betting dens; Paterson went around Mike to put together a last-minute reprieve.) And it certainly can't help that there's been talk that Bloomberg might make a run for Albany and challenge Paterson to the seat that landed in his lap three months ago. So is the mild-mannered governor really this furious at the mayor? Who knows, but it makes for a fantastic read:

Of all the people spotted by Page Six's army of loyal spies, readers, and publicists, they chose a photo of governor David Paterson to illustrate their "sightings." 'Cause he can't see! How delightfully witty! [NYP]

"An article on Saturday about attorneys general from 10 states asking the California Supreme Court to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriages misstated the given name of the governor of New York, who last week ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. He is David A. Paterson, not James." [NY Times]

Guys we LOVE our new governor! Thank Roger Stone the abrasive other guy got caught up in that hooker thing because that's really the only way we could've ended up with this awesome black and blind dude who is compulsively honest. AND, it turns out, gay-friendly! He decided the state of the New York would recognize gay marriages performed in California, and he compared the gay rights battle to the African-American civil rights battle, which, as the Times notes, "put him at odds with some black leaders, who bristle at such comparisons." Yes, they do. Why did Governor Paterson do it?

The Executive Directory of the Port Authority—the nebulous but reliably corrupt and incompetently managed organization that owns all New York's airports and the WTC site, soon to be home of the Target Presents 9/11 Memorial Office Park and Citibank Playground at Ground Zero—resigned this morning. Anthony Shorris, appointed by hooker-lovin' ex-guv Eliot Spitzer last year, "told his staff that he has advanced every goal he tried to set for the agency—including growth at the ports, upgrades to the PATH commuter rail system and buying a fourth airport for the region." He advanced them all from "daydreams" to "fantasies." He was forced out because current adulterous New York Governor David Paterson is replacing everyone Spitzer appointed, and also because of 9/11. [NYT]

"Marijuana?" New York Gov. David Paterson: "Yes." "Cocaine?" "Yes." "You used cocaine governor?" "I'd say I was 22 or 23, I tried it a couple of times, yes." [NY1]

Born in 1945 in Brooklyn, Paterson's father Basil was a labor lawyer, and later a state senator, secretary of state, and deputy mayor of New York City. Paterson when was three, he suffered an ear infection that spread to his optic nerve and left him with little to no vision in either of his eyes. His family moved to Long Island so that he could attend a mainstream school, and he was the first disabled student to graduate from Hempstead High School in 1971.

• If you missed the prior leaked stills in the Post or Orlando Sentinel, Girls Gone Wild's video of Eliot Spitzer hooker Ashley Dupre may contain some revelations; otherwise you'll feel like you've already seen it. The video is excerpted by the Post here and for sale here.

"'I was angry, I was jealous and I exercised poor judgment.'... Paterson said he had had an affair with a state employee who was not under his supervision at the time. He acknowledged that the employee still works for the state and 'we will try to accommodate that employee's wishes.'" [NYT]

New York's new governor David Paterson apparently decided to just get his sex scandal over with right at the start of his administration, so he told the Daily News all about his two-to-three-year affair with another woman in an interview published tonight, less than 24 hours after Paterson took power. His wife admitted seeing someone too, and both affairs came during a rough patch in the marriage several years ago. David Paterson's affair comes of course after his predecessor Eliot Spitzer was brought down after being caught whoring by the Feds and amid alleged new details of ex-New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's sexual exploits while married. Paterson's affair is easily the saddest of the bunch thanks to the following detail:

Incoming New York governor David Paterson will indeed be state's first black governor, but reports that he will be the nation's first blind governor neglect the amazing true story of American hero Bob Riley, the blind man who was president of Arkansas for 11 days in 1975, until it was revealed that the charmingly absent-minded old man had just accidentally stumbled into the governor's office while walking his dog around a construction site without wearing his glasses. Riley remained the head of state, convinced he was attending an amusing vaudeville show, until he was retrieved by his nephew Waldo. [Wonkette]

Hey, our awesome new blind governor just had a press conference! And he has a sense of humor! Asked (rather uncouthly) whether he himself had ever dealt with prostitutes, incoming Governor David Paterson responded, "only the lobbyists." Zing!

"All eyes are on Lt. Governor David Paterson this week, who is poised to become the first legally blind governor in United States history, and the first African-American governor of New York." That's the American Federation For The Blind, showing the blind can do anything the sighted can, like use awkward wordplay when discussing David Paterson's vision. [AFB]