The state's top fiscal watchdog — sounding a lot like his longtime Democratic ally, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — unexpectedly declared that it would be "premature" for the Public Authorities Control Board to vote for approval of $300 million in state funding for the project.

Hevesi's blocking action on the eve of today's planned meeting — based on what he said were unanswered questions — was widely seen as providing the political "cover" that Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno need to block today's vote.

It was a foul-tasting antidote to the pro-stadium momentum that had gotten under way just hours earlier, when a state Supreme Court justice upheld the MTA's sale of the West Side rail yards to the Jets.

"What a coincidence," jokingly said a lobbyist about Hevesi's 11th-hour intervention, noting that the comptroller hadn't weighed in during the past two weeks when Silver and Bruno succeeded in delaying earlier PACB votes.

Some insiders close to Pataki said they were convinced Silver solicited the opinion from Hevesi, a longtime personal friend whose son, Andrew, was just elected to the Assembly from Queens.

Whatever the case, it now appears likely to give the legislative leaders the excuse they may need to further delay action on the stadium deal.