SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Acid-tongued political consultant Roger Stone was tossed overboard by state Senate Republicans yesterday over an ugly phone message to Gov. Spitzer's father.

While insisting he had no idea if Stone was the anonymous caller, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said the allegations were "serious enough, despicable enough" to push Stone to quit his $20,000-a-month gig.

Stone insisted he didn't make the call to 83-year-old Bernard Spitzer that referred to his son as a "phony, psycho piece of s---."

Along with his theory that dirty tricksters broke into his Central Park South apartment and used doctored recordings to frame him, Stone yesterday added an alibi: At the time of the call, he was attending "Frost/Nixon" on Broadway.

One hole in his story: There was no performance of the play on the night of Monday , Aug. 6, when the message was left on the elder Spitzer's voice mail.

Stone, 55, said he was giving up his consulting job "by mutual agreement."

Bruno told reporters he wanted to put the focus back on the "real issues" - the Troopergate case that has plagued the Spitzer administration for the past month. Meanwhile, the targets of those investigations are delighted at the turn of events.

"Roger Stone's 'swift boat' has hit an iceberg," said a laughing Terence Kindlon, lawyer for Spitzer's suspended communications director, Darren Dopp, who helped lead a scheme to discredit Bruno with leaked records on the senator's use of state-owned aircraft.

GOP insiders said Bruno's senior staff was split over Stone's hiring in late June. Political director Edward Lurie wanted him; Bruno communications director John McCardle did not.

Stone helped Republicans craft their strategy when Troopergate erupted a month ago.

Expanding their offensive, Republican senators threatened to hold hearings on allegedly illegal loans Eliot Spitzer got from his father to bankroll his 1994 and 1998 runs for state attorney general.

Gov. Spitzer has admitted he failed to accurately report the source of the funds, but the dubious loans were never investigated by the state Board of Elections.

Republicans said Bruno made the right call in parting with Stone. "Senator Bruno acted swiftly, which I think is appropriate under the circumstances, while the governor did not act decisively," said Sen. Serphin Maltese of Queens.

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