The Way The Q54 Strays, Now That Atlas Park Is Down The Way . . .

Some claim that overdevelopment is threatening the cultural heritage of old Queens:

Those transit meatheads caused gushers of trouble.

Such is the sentiment in Archie Bunker’s old neighborhood — known outside of the TV world as Glendale — where residents believe a recent water main break was caused by a bus re-routing that put too much stress on the street.

“It’s absolutely the bus routes — it can’t be anything else,” said Dorie Figliola, a member of Community Board 5. “It just can’t withstand [the pressure]. Our old pipes are just going.”

The Q54 bus was re-routed in July so it could stop at the Shops at Atlas Park, a retail complex that opened last year at 80th St. and Cooper Ave.

Atlas Park management hoped the move would attract more customers, and it wants the Q23 and Q45 re-routed so that they also pass by the mall.

But the new route raised concerns about noise, pollution and traffic in a residential area that includes the Cooper Ave. home featured in the opening credits of the hit 1970s sitcom “All in the Family.”

Location Scout: Archie Bunker’s House.

And Just As The Fall Season Begins . . .

So not only do they clog the streets with their motorcades, get out of parking tickets and beat DWI raps but their security detail radios are also messing with your television reception:

Residents in the area near the United Nations may be noticing fuzzy reception — even on cable — while all the foreign dignitaries are in town attending the General Assembly.

The problem is caused by high-powered radios used by security details protecting the diplomats, said Time Warner Cable spokeswoman Suzanne Giuliani.

“It happens every year,” Giuliani said of what amounts to “intermittent signal problems” on some channels.

The affected area generally stretches from 42nd Street to 86th Street on the East Side, Giuliani said, adding that the cable company has posted a recording on its phone systems to let callers know there’s a temporary problem.

The two-way radio signals can interfere with TV reception when the cable isn’t secured tightly, Giuliani said.

Ramp Down The Jawn!

Again, lay off the “sixth borough” talk — spare hard-working Philadelphians your evil scheme to turn their city into the next Ridgewood:

“The vibe here,” said Shawn Hennessey, “is the jawn.” The 27-year-old musician gestured at the neon sign for Silk City, a club-cum-restaurant housed in an old dining car in the gentrifying Northern Liberties neighborhood.

“The jawn is a Philly word,” said Brian Nadav, Mr. Hennessey’s friend and bandmate. “It means ‘a good thing.’ It can be a noun, like you can say, ‘Yo, pass me that jawn’ or ‘I’m the jawn.'” But, he cautioned, “It is never a verb. You never say, ‘I jawned.'”

Can We Quit With Congestion Pricing Schemes Already?

You sniff at the Nasonex revolution at your own peril:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday proposed charging people less if they ride subways or buses during off-peak periods, in hopes of easing overcrowding during the commuting rushes.

Under the plan, however, most riders would be hit with steep increases, as the authority seeks to generate $580 million from fare and toll increases during the next two years.

The proposal was one of two possible fare-increase formulas offered by the transit agency. The other called for a more traditional set of increases, raising the base bus and subway fare to $2.25 from $2.

The off-peak discount proposal, which if approved would take effect early next year, also calls for a $2.25 base fare. Under this plan, a discounted fare of $1.50 would be available to some MetroCard users during off-peak hours.

But riders who buy the popular unlimited weekly or monthly passes would pay as much as 8 percent more and would not gain from the off-peak discount. Nearly half of all rides taken on the system are paid for with unlimited-ride passes.

And the authority would eliminate the current 20 percent bonus given to people who put $10 or more on a pay-per-ride MetroCard, which now gives them six rides for every five purchased, making the cost of each ride effectively $1.67.

. . .

. . . Elliot G. Sander, the chief executive of the authority, said the alternative structure could help address the system’s rush hour congestion as well as generate more money.

“This is clearly new territory for us,” Mr. Sander said. “It is a very serious, innovative proposal.”

I Hear You — The World Hears . . . Eh, Probably Not So Much When You Think About It

That’s Columbia the university, not the country:

President Lee Bollinger of Columbia, in a dramatic speech broadcast around the globe yesterday from Morningside Heights, delivered an oratorical haymaker to President Ahmadinejad, attacking his record on human rights, Israel, and terrorism in remarks that will likely overshadow anything the Iranian might say during his diplomatic rounds in America.

In systematic fashion, Mr. Bollinger, who was being closely watched in New York and beyond because of criticism that he had blundered by inviting Mr. Ahmadinejad in the first place, rebuked the Iranian president for calling for the destruction of Israel, for funding terrorism, for fighting a proxy war against America within the borders of Iraq, for persecuting women and homosexuals, and for flaunting the international community in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Bollinger called Mr. Ahmadinejad’s stated denial of the Holocaust “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.” His remarks were made all the more dramatic by the fact that the Iranian leader was seated only yards away, in a corner of the stage where he listened as an interpreter translated Mr. Bollinger’s words.

“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Mr. Bollinger said, after challenging the Iranian to admit a delegation from Columbia to speak at an Iranian University.

Mr. Bollinger’s remarks were met with a rant from Mr. Ahmadinejad, who called his remarks “an insult to the knowledge of the audience here” and a “vaccination” of the event.

And is this really a surprise?

Many audience members expressed some disappointment, if not surprise, that Mr. Ahmadinejad evaded answering almost every question posed to him by the dean of Columbia’s School of Public and International Affairs, John Coatsworth, who read questions from index cards that were filled out by students and faculty members in the audience.