Poll Finds New Yorkers Like Paterson ALBANY, NEW YORK (WXXI) - New York voters view the new governor, David Paterson, favorably, despite Paterson's confession that he'd had a number of extra marital affairs.

The Siena college poll finds that 58% of New Yorkers have a positive opinion of the new governor, David Paterson, who's been on the job for just one week now. 10% view the new governor negatively. The survey also found that confidence in the new governor is high, with 60% saying they believe Paterson and state leaders will be able to solve the array of problems facing the state. Siena's Steve Greenberg says he thinks voters want to give Paterson a "clean slate".

Paterson's announcement last Tuesday that he had been involved in several extra marital affairs seemed to have no effect on voter's opinion of him. Those who took the survey on Friday, several days after Paterson's confession, still gave the new governor a 56% approval rating.

New York residents had become disenchanted with former Governor Eliot Spitzer long before Spitzer resigned earlier this month, after it was revealed he had been involved in a prostitution ring. But Greenberg says the drop in Spitzer's popularity, when measured over time, is still dramatic. One month into Spitzer's term, in February 2007, the then- new governor had a nearly record high popularity rating of 74%. By the time he resigned earlier this month, 79% of those surveyed had a poor opinion of Spitzer.

"It's absolutely incredible," said Greenberg.

The recent events also impacted voters views of the state Senate Majority Leader, Joe Bruno. Greenberg says polls have consistently shown New Yorkers don't have high opinions of their legislative leaders, with approval ratings generally hovering around 25%. But, since the resignation of Spitzer, Senator Bruno, who was often a target of the former governor's wrath, saw his favorability rankings increase by 10%, to 32%.

Governor Paterson spent the day in New York City, where he announced the appointment of a new superintendent of the State Police, Harry Corbitt.

Corbitt's predecessor, acting superintendent Preston Felton, resigned last week. Felton had become tied to a scandal involving former Governor Spitzer's use of state troopers to create travel records on Senator Bruno.

A report in the New York Times says that the Albany County District Attorney David Soares will soon issue a report that finds Spitzer was the one who ordered that the travel records be kept, and who oversaw their release to a newspaper, something the former governor had denied in the past.

Paterson also answered questions about a report in the New York Post that found Paterson, as lieutenant governor, spent several nights in a hotel in downtown Albany, despite the fact that Paterson has a second home less than a 20 minute drive from the Capitol. He says he had to use the hotel because then- Governor Spitzer called meetings very early in the morning.

"When we had early morning meetings or press conferences there were, I don't know, 10 or 15 times when I actually stayed in hotels in Albany to accommodate the governor," Paterson said.

Paterson billed the state for the hotel stays.

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