GOV. PATERSON IN HOSPITAL WITH MIGRAINE

DIAGNOSED WITH ACUTE GLAUCOMA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gov. David Paterson

May 20, 2008 --

New York Gov. David Paterson has been diagnosed with acute glaucoma in his left eye and is undergoing an outpatient laser procedure.

Paterson's office said in a statement that the procedure "will not have any long-term impact on the governor's overall health.

It says Paterson will remain conscious during the procedure. But "in an abundance of caution, the Senate majority leader and the Assembly speaker were advised.

Paterson admitted himself to Manhattan's Mount Sinai Medical Center earlier today after experiencing "migraine-like symptoms.

The hospital referred all comment on Paterson's condition to the governor's office, which had no immediate update.

Paterson, who turned 54 Tuesday, was sworn in as governor on March 17, days after former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

Paterson, the former state Senate minority leader, had served as Spitzer's lieutenant governor for 14 months.

When he succeeded Spitzer, New York was left without a second in command; voters won't pick a new lieutenant governor until the next gubernatorial election in 2010.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, is next in line of succession and would be acting governor if Paterson were out of state, or became incapacitated or died.

Bruno said he learned the governor was in the hospital around 6 a.m. Tuesday.

He noted that Paterson had recently put him in charge of the executive branch when the governor was in Washington for meetings, and greeted him on the phone with, "Hi, governor." The two men are friends.

Doug Muzzio, a politics professor at Baruch College, said it would be a "mess" if something happened to Paterson and he were no longer able to serve as governor.

"An unelected new governor of a different party right after we had an unelected governor from the same party, I think it would be traumatic for New York ... it could lead to a political and policy quagmire," Muzzio said.

Paterson's health has been a concern in recent years, with at least two other hospitalizations.