ADVANTAGE: ALAN

ELIOT VERSUS ALBANY

Hevesi: As gov.-elect says "good-bye," he says "hello."

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December 15, 2006 -- IS Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer overplaying his hand on Alan Hevesi?

Spitzer's chief spokesman on Wednesday concluded an exchange of gibes with New York's casually corrupt comptroller thusly: "In assigning state workers to non-official duties and in failing to keep appropriate records upon which reimbursement could be based, [Hevesi] clearly violated his fiduciary duty to the people of the state."

A fraught word, "fiduciary."

In this usage, it not only encapsulates the fundamental seriousness of the case against Hevesi, it also alludes - no doubt deliberately - to a far more basic reason why the comptroller can't properly remain in office.

He is, by terms of the state Constitution, the sole fiduciary of the New York State and Local Employee Retirement Fund - now hovering somewhere north of $140 billion and growing every day.

If Hevesi can't be trusted in a matter so mundane as his wife's driver, how in the world can he be trusted with sums of that magnitude?

Thus has Spitzer drawn yet another line in the sand regarding Hevesi's future.

Back before Election Day, when New York first learned of Carol Hevesi's tax-funded chauffeur-cum-caretaker, Spitzer immediately - and publicly - withdrew his support for the comptroller's re-election.

That sent a message.

"No way is [Hevesi] standing behind Eliot when he gives the State of the State message [Jan. 3]," said one Albany heavyweight, succinctly summing up the then-conventional wisdom.

But several weeks have passed, and Hevesi seems no closer to being an ex- comptroller than he was back then.

Indeed, the winds seem to be blowing gently in his favor.

There's that worshipful piece in the current New York magazine; it couldn't have been more sympathetic had he written it himself.

Meanwhile, Albany County DA David Soares says he's proceeding with his own investigation, but that the heaviest charge he's considering is a Class E felony - basically, a prelude to a misdemeanor plea-bargain.

And a misdemeanor conviction, by itself, isn't enough to force Hevesi from office.

Then there is that 56 percent of the vote earned by Hevesi a month ago - clearly no legal barrier to removal, as has been suggested, but a politically dicey issue for Eliot Spitzer.

The essence of the Spitzer campaign - indeed, the only important plank in his platform - was a pledge to clean up a state capital that is among the most corrupt in America.

How could he make an exception for Alan Hevesi - and before Election Day, to boot?

Thus Spitzer didn't pick this fight; it picked him.

But now he's bumping up against the reality of Albany - and the fact that while the comptroller may not have a lot of friends up there in the frozen north, he has a whole lot of allies.

Allies like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and all the other well-wired Albany insiders who help shape the state's $100-billion-plus budget to the huge benefit of themselves and their friends.

Not one of them has an interest in reform on the scale being promised by Eliot Spitzer - quite the contrary. And they all know that an excellent way to stop it would be to maintain Alan Hevesi in office.

Spitzer, as noted, has invested considerable personal prestige in Hevesi's departure, and a high-profile defeat would send a powerful message: The new guy can be rolled.

Hevesi could just quit. But he says he won't.

Then what?

Spitzer has the authority to ask the state Senate - that is to say, Joe Bruno - to remove the comptroller. But why would Bruno undertake a battle of that sort on behalf of a man who has been promising to unravel the senator's sweetheart relationships with powerful unionists and other special interests?

That leaves an impeachment, which would have to be undertaken by Speaker Silver - who has all of Bruno's reasons not to cooperate with Spitzer, and who long ago became comfortable in the role of Albany's most powerful Democrat.

This is a fight solely of Spitzer's making, but to the extent that he's serious about cleaning up Albany, he must win it.

"Day One: Everything Changes" reads his tee-shirt.

If Hevesi skates, look for the Albany insiders to be wearing shirts of their own:

"Day Two: We're Still Here!"

mcmanus@nypost.com