When Dave Marcus was younger, the Croton-on-Hudson attorney would not have been able to root for the Giants, no matter what the circumstances. He was a Jets fan, and having to share a stadium was indignity enough.

But as he's gotten older, Marcus has mellowed to the point that, when the Giants take on the Patriots this Sunday in Super Bowl XLII, he will be actively rooting for the other New York team.

"A few years ago it might have been tough, but my Giants hatred never rose to the level of my Yankees hatred," Marcus said.

As a matter of fact, Marcus sees a lot of similarities between the Yankees and the Patriots. Both have won so many championships that words like "legendary" and "dynasty" get thrown around a lot. For a guy whose Jets haven't won a league championship since Super Bowl III, that can be hard to take.

"I root against the Patriots because I root against a 17-0 team," Marcus said of the team that is actually 18-0. "I just don't want to see that. They're just too corporate, too good."

Stephen Feaster, a Jets fan from Yonkers, has always disliked the Patriots because, as rivals in the AFC East, they have blocked the Jets so often. His enmity has increased in the last few years, ever since one-day Jets coach Bill Belichick left the team in the lurch to join the Patriots.

Earlier this season, when the Patriots were nabbed for videotaping signals the Jets' staff was using on opening day, the NFL took it seriously. Belichick was personally fined a jarring $500,000, while the Patriots' organization was hit with a $250,000 charge.

For a Jets fan such as Feaster, it's much easier to cheer for the Giants because there is less to dislike.

"I'd rather root for another New York team than the Patriots," Feaster said.

For Eudson Tyon Francois, a Jets fan from Ramapo, it's not so much rooting for the Giants as rooting against the Patriots. He cited "Spygate" and Belichick's short tenure as Jets coach, but also included an aversion to Tom Brady.

It is bad enough that Brady is all over the papers, but Francois can't stand the way he is promoted for the Hall of Fame already.

"I don't want him to get a fourth ring," Francois said. "I do not want him in a lineup with Joe Montana and those quarterbacks."

Joe Curreri of Nanuet falls on the other side of the fence, for one reason: The Giants fans he knows have been giving him such a hard time about the Jets that he can't root for them.

"They are ruthless lately," Curreri said. "On the other hand, the Patriots are awful, but in a way they are a great team."

Reluctantly, the Jets and Mets fan will be rooting for the Patriots, but not with much enthusiasm. He admits it might be a tough game to watch.