"Whatever conversations we've had were brief and personal, and I prefer to keep them that way," Andrew Cuomo told the Post.

Neither the elder Cuomo nor Palomino could be reached immediately for comment yesterday

Meanwhile, The Buffalo News reported that Cuomo has decided that if he runs for president, he will remain as governor. The News' report was also based on unidentified sources close to the governor.

Cuomo has said repeatedly that it would be difficult if not impossible to run for president while serving as governor. He's also said he believes it is a bad time to leave as governor given the serious fiscal problems facing the state and New York City.

On Monday, Cuomo told Albany's WAMC radio that quitting the New York governorship to run for president might be "a from of abandonment."

"It's not impossible, it's been done," Cuomo spokesperson Anne Crowley said when asked about someone running for president while serving as governor. She noted that then-Gov. Michael Dukakis did it in 1988. The Massachusetts Democrat lost. She also noted that Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas was trying it this time around.

The last time a sitting governor ran successfully for president was 1932. It was New York Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt.