Good Thing Terrorists All Read That Free AM New York Thing And Not The Daily News

The Daily News reports that the MTA is considering using a Kevlar-ceramic substance to strengthen the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge’s suspension cables. Shh . . . don’t tell the terrorists:

The MTA plans to shield the Verrazano Bridge’s suspension cables with a protective material to make it harder for terrorists to damage the span, the Daily News has learned.

Two sources said the huge cables that support the world’s second-largest suspension bridge would be encased in a strong, bomb-resistant material.

Another source said that Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have examined a composite material that includes Kevlar and ceramics. The material, which is as strong as steel but lighter, is used to help protect Black Hawk helicopters.

“It offers a high degree of protection against an explosive blast,” one of the sources said.

The MTA is expected to award a contract for the work soon.

MTA spokesman Tom Kelly would say only, “I have no comment on security issues.”

But when you think about it, in some ways it may be more useful to leak the plans to do it than to actually do it, right?

Crosstown Traffic

The Daily News discovers that crosstown buses are good for the elderly and infirm but not much else:

Passengers on the M34 are living life in the slow lane.

The crosstown bus – the slowest in the city – inches along 34th St. at a pace so snail-like that a Daily News reporter yesterday gave it a run for the money during a river-to-river dash.

In a race that stretched just over 25 minutes, the mammoth machine needed a last-second burst of “speed” across Second Ave. to hold on for a dubious win – by all of 46 seconds.

“Sometimes this thing is so slow, that even I can beat the bus,” said Frank Fellippello, 46, who rides the bus daily.

And even fat-ass reporters can nearly outwalk a bus:

The contest began at 34th St. and 11th Ave., with a News intern boarding an 11:41 bus, and a reporter setting off on foot.

The M34 shot out of the starting blocks, leaving pedestrians in the dust with an unspectacular view – a rear-end bus ad featuring the scowling mug of actor Don Johnson.

Man and machine would trade the lead a few times as they approached busy Herald Square, where the bus finally got jammed up by a long red light and a traffic cop’s whistle.

Fighting urges to stop for a chocolate chip cookie and a cheesesteak at favorite spots along 34th St., the reporter held the lead even as the bus lurked dangerously close.

But the bus finally won out near the finish line, zooming into the winner’s circle as the hapless pedestrian staggered across Second Ave.

Meanwhile, the Post notes that the M34 often is too slow for even the elderly and infirm:

The M34 is so slow that in Herald Square last night, an 84-year-old woman with a cane said she’d be better off walking.

“I’m late for an appointment. I don’t think I can get there any faster with the bus,” said the woman, who didn’t give her name.

Other s l o w lines include the M66, the M23, the M14s, Brooklyn’s B63 (5.2 mph), the Bronx’s Bx19 (4.9 mph) and the Q58 International “Express” (6.9 mph).

The Most Important Issues In The Mayoral Race

You know mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer is grasping at straws when he criticizes Mayor Bloomberg’s position not on affordable housing, high taxes or crime but rather Iraq, because of course one of the most important things a mayor can do is lead the country into war:

Trying to keep hard-core Democrats in his camp, Fernando Ferrer, the Democratic mayoral nominee, yesterday criticized Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg over his statements about the Iraq war and the need for more low-cost housing.

Mr. Bloomberg, who had previously said that the war was not a local issue, amended that comment yesterday by calling Iraq “a national issue and a local issue – we’ve lost 30 or so young men and women from this city.”

Yet the mayor, a Republican, also sought some political cover from Mr. Ferrer’s attack by asserting that his view on withdrawing troops was the same as the two Democratic senators from New York, Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who support Mr. Ferrer.

“I think everybody would love to get our troops home as quickly as is practicable,” he said, before adding that he goes “along with our senators” who have said that the troops must be supported while stationed in Iraq.

Mr. Ferrer criticized the mayor’s statements and his past financial donations and political support for President Bush and other Republicans who have supported the Iraq war.

“I don’t know what the mayor was thinking,” Mr. Ferrer said. “I think this is a local issue, and I think we should withdraw our troops. I think you also need to ask the mayor why it is he continues to support the president, the party, the Congress and the policies that have prosecuted this war.”

And that’s not to say this isn’t a two-way street. For his part, Hizzoner has tackled important city issues like John Roberts’ position on Roe v. Wade.

New York City — people here are all about the big issues!

Rebbe al-Sadr

Southern Iraq or Brooklyn? It’s difficult to say [emphasis added in advance, for your comprehension and pleasure]:

A brawl broke out in a Brooklyn synagogue yesterday morning, forcing dozens of cops in riot gear to pull worshippers from their house of prayer, in the latest eruption of a Hasidic holy war.

Yesterday’s melee, which included punches, slaps and beard-pulling, broke out between clashing factions of the Satmar Hasidic sect in Williamsburg and ended with cops in helmets closing down streets to restore order on a Jewish holiday, Shmini Atzeret.

“There was chaos,” said worshipper Joel Klein, 29, who said he was pulled from the Yetev Lev Bikur Cholim synagogue on Rodney Street by cops. “It was like a war zone.”

Cops and witnesses said thousands were involved in the fight.

The bitter feud dates back to a longstanding dispute between two brothers who both claim to lead the Williamsburg Satmar congregation and its system of rabbinical yeshivas, religious schools and social services.

The grand rebbe of the ultra-conservative Satmars, Moshe Teitelbaum, picked Zalman in 1999 to lead the Brooklyn congregation, over his elder son, Aaron, who continues to lead another congregation in upstate Kiryas Joel.

The congregation fractured into rival boards that held separate elections and each side claimed victory. A law suit was filed for control of the congregation’s board, but a Brooklyn judge ruled last year that it was not the court’s job to interfere in the grand rebbe’s decision.

But an upstate judge’s decision last week — which some interpreted as leaving Aaron’s ally, Berl Friedman, to be the corporate leader of the Brooklyn congregation — sparked yesterday’s religious rumble.

When Friedman entered the synagogue at about 8:30 a.m., people began shouting and shoving matches ensued between the hundreds of worshippers, witnesses said. As the scrimmage elevated, fights spilled out into the streets.

By the time cops arrived, “there were a couple thousand people in the streets — just tons of people in the streets,” a police source said.

Cops were forced to shut down several blocks in the neighborhood.

Zero-Sum PR Or The “Look Fellas, We Tried” Strategy

The Post reports (in an “EXCLUSIVE”!) that Governor Pataki wants to put the kibosh on the MTA’s $50 million goodwill bribe:

Gov. Pataki is demanding the MTA put the brakes on its half-fare-for-the-holiday plan, saying the agency’s surplus would be better spent on security and building a new rail link to lower Manhattan, The Post has learned.

“Encouraging the use of mass transit and attracting more visitors to the city during the holiday season is always a good idea,” Pataki told The Post in a statement.

“However, the surplus should be prioritized to ensure the safety, reliability and future financial stability of our transportation infrastructure.”

Doesn’t this Good Cop/Bad Cop act work well for both sides? The MTA gets to say, “Look, Fellas — we tried!” while Pataki comes off as the sensible one. I like it!