Oly bigs pushing pols for quick stadium OK

BY JOE MAHONEY in Albany
and MICHAEL SAUL in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Declaring it would be "tragic" if America's Olympic bid was "damaged" by Albany gridlock, the nation's representatives on the International Olympic Committee urged the state's top lawmakers to approve the proposed stadium before Monday.

"The four other cities in this important international competition all have strong national government support, as does New York from both the White House and the Congress," they wrote. "It would be most unfortunate if this entire effort is undermined by the political process of New York State."

The letter writers - Anita DeFrantz, James Easton and Robert Ctvrtlik - urged Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno "in the strongest terms" to approve the stadium "to preserve New York's excellent prospects" of winning the 2012 Games.

Silver and Bruno are publicly undecided. The Public Authorities Control Board - a panel controlled by Silver (D-Manhattan), Bruno (R-Rensselaer) and Gov. Pataki - is set to vote this week, probably Friday.

The three-member board must approve the West Side stadium unanimously for construction to begin.

Olympic supporters are hoping to have the stadium plan approved by Monday, when the IOC's evaluation commission publishes a report assessing the five finalist cities. New York is competing against Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow.

"It would be tragic if America's bid was damaged ... in Albany," the trio wrote.

Silver said yesterday the letter will not influence him.

"Nothing has changed," he said, adding his questions about the stadium's financing have yet to be addressed adequately.

Mayor Bloomberg and Pataki pushed for quick approval yesterday. "It would just be a horrible, horrible mistake for any individual to block the stadium," Pataki said.