Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco said he and other legislative leaders had received telephone calls from Lt. Gov. David Paterson that Tedisco took as indicating a resignation from Gov. Eliot Spitzer was in the offing.

Speaking on Talk 1300 in Albany, Tedisco said Paterson’s call “indicates there is something that’s going to take place.”

Tedisco (R-Schenectady) was one of the first leaders Monday to call for Spitzer to step down after being ensnared in a prostitution scandal. The second-year governor was allegedly caught in a federal wiretap making arrangements for a prostitute from the Emperors Club VIP to meet him in a Washington hotel room on Feb. 13.

Tedisco said Tuesday morning that he was exploring the possibility of impeaching Spitzer, though he conceded an indictment or arrest of the governor would need to come first. “We’re preparing a resolution as we evaluate impeachment. We will request a resolution of impeachment by Speaker [ Sheldon] Silver to begin the process,” Tedisco said.

Asked if Spitzer should resign, Silver refused to use that word, saying the governor should do “what’s best for his family.” Silver added, “I think what’s best for the state is we have a constitution, we have continuity in government - it is now up to the governor to make a determination that’s best for his family. I pray for his children and the impact it has had. Right now, my heart goes out to him.”

On Long Island, the county Democratic leaders were divided on what Spitzer’s next move should be.

Suffolk Democratic Party chairman Richard Schaffer called for Spitzer’s resignation. “I think it’s best that he step down,” Schaffer said. “We’re all hoping he figures that out over the next couple of days. But for everyone, including his family, I think it’s best that he step aside.”

But Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said, “I’m not going to say whether I would suggest that the governor step down — or not step down. But if he and his advisers have come up with a strategy to continue in office they are a heck of a lot smarter than me, because I can’t figure it out.”

In Albany, television trucks surrounded the Capitol and distracted lawmakers trying to focus on other issues. Lobbyists continued to stream through the marble hallways as they do every Tuesday during the regular legislative session.

The Senate’s Republican majority announced plans for a constitutional spending cap as part of its budget proposal for 2008-09.

Spitzer appeared not to have arrived at his Manhattan office as of 11:15 a.m.

By AMY WESTFELDT

NEW YORK Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the crusading politician who built his career on rooting out corruption, apologized Monday after he was accused of involvement in a prostitution ring. He did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation.

His stoic wife at his side, Spitzer told reporters at a hastily called news conference: “I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself,” he said. “I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Spitzer’s involvement in the ring was caught on a federal wiretap as part of an investigation opened in recent months, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry.

The New York Democrat, identified in legal papers as “Client 9,” met last month with at least one woman in a Washington hotel, the law enforcement official said.

The prostitution ring, identified in court papers as the Emperors Club VIP, arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris, prosecutors said. Four people allegedly connected to the high-end ring were arrested last week.

The club’s Web site displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

The scandal was first reported on The New York Times’ Web site.

Spitzer spoke hours later. Stunned lawmakers gathered around televisions at the state Capitol in Albany to watch, and a media mob gathered outside the office of Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who would become governor if Spitzer was to resign. It took opponents only minutes to call for his resignation.

“Today’s news that Eliot Spitzer was likely involved with a prostitution ring and his refusal to deny it leads to one inescapable conclusion: He has disgraced his office and the entire state of New York,” said Assembly Republican leader James Tedisco. “He should resign his office immediately.”

Spitzer, 48, built his political reputation on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.

Time magazine had named him “Crusader of the Year” when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him “Eliot Ness.”

But his term as governor has been marred by problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer’s main Republican nemesis.

Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides were accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.

His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.

In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.