Following yesterday’s attack on a NYC cab driver by a 21-year-old film student who asked “Are you a Muslim?” before stabbing his victim, Gov. David Paterson said the controversy over the Park51 project has “gotten far out of hand” and is providing anti-American terrorists with a victory.

“I would say that an incident like this, where a taxi driver almost lost his life, should certainly compel us to remembering – as I was talking to the archbishop about the other day – this is what the terrorists really want,” Paterson told John Gambling on WOR this morning.

“This is the terrorists getting a yield on their investment when they attacked this country and blew up the World Trade Center – that we’re fighting each other. This is making their day. We can disagree about this, but I thought the rhetoric and the acrimony has gotten far out of hand.”

Protest over the mosque/Islamic center proposed for construction near Ground Zero has reportedly stepped up anti-US chatter and threats on jihadist Websites, although the White House has said there’s no evidence the controversy has had an impact on US counterterrorism efforts.

Paterson again said he would like to speak with the Park51 developers, adding that he would be willing to call Imam Feisal Abful Rauf himself when the religious leader returns from his State Department sponsored trip to the Middle East.

“I would certainly enjoy meeting with him, and there are communications that have been very respectful,” said the governor, adding that Rauf is due back in the US Labor Day weekend.

At the same time, the governor acknowledged the developers have so far made it clear they’re not interested in relocating, and he lamented the fact that his offer to mediate a compromise solution seemed to further the controversy rather than tamp it down.

“The whole discussion is marred now because the alternative site now starts to suggest that they have to take some responsibility for what people who look like them or have the same religion as them or came from the same geographic area as them did,” Paterson said.

“And I don’t think we should ever get to the point where we’re now taking responsibility for your guys and our guys…Because of that, I think my message has been kind of lost.”

The governor said his meeting earlier this week with Archbishop Timothy Dolan was “more symbolic” than anything else.

He said he believes the project has been a “lightning rod” for a host of issues – including the frustration with government and the faltering economy, which has “spread much further than the geographic area of Ground Zero.”

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