A high-ranking state official abruptly resigned yesterday amid allegations that he was involved in an altercation at a posh Saratoga Race Course nightclub last week, The Post has learned.
Ralph Madalena, the $159,000-a-year senior vice president and chief financial officer for the state Housing Finance Agency, quit because of a “personal issue,” said agency spokeswoman Tiffany Berns.
Berns refused to say more, insisting, “This is a personal issue and I cannot publicly discuss it any further at this time.”
A Pataki administration source said the resignation had been asked for in the wake of the race course incident and that it took effect early yesterday.
Two state officials said Madalena, a housing agency employee since 1995, was involved in an angry exchange with a female staffer last Wednesday during an evening dinner at Siro’s, a legendary nightspot adjacent to the track.
The officials said Saratoga Springs police were called, but no arrest was made. Saratoga police declined to comment. Madalena did not return a reporter’s voice mail.
Additional reporting by Kenneth Lovett