Official: Spitzer To Announce Resignation at 11:30 a.m.

ALBANY — Governor Spitzer has decided to resign, completing a stunning fall from power after he was nationally disgraced by links to a high-priced prostitution ring, a top state official said today.

Mr. Spitzer was scheduled to announce his resignation at 11:30 a.m., according to a second top Spitzer staffer. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

Mr. Spitzer and his wife, Silda, left their apartment around 11 a.m. and got into a black SUV to take them to his office. About 75 onlookers and media watched from behind a blue police barricade while five helicopters hovered above.

Mr. Spitzer would be replaced by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who will become New York's first black governor.

The scandal erupted Monday when allegations surfaced that Mr. Spitzer, a 48-year-old married man with three teenage daughters, spent thousands of dollars on a call girl named Kristen at a Washington hotel on the night before Valentine's Day.