While Large Swaths Of The Outer Boroughs Lack Bus Service, Much Less Subway Service And Nearly Every Other City In The World Closes Its Subway System In The Middle Of The Night . . .

. . . some are trying to raise a stink about forcing people to walk literally one block to an open subway station between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The MTA shouldn’t feel sorry at all* . . . we have gold-plated subway service:

Without additional funding, the MTA says it will lock up the City Hall and Rector St. stations on the Broadway line in Manhattan between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., as well as the Lawrence St. station in downtown Brooklyn. Currently, N trains — and only N trains — make those stops.

That news didn’t sit well with riders waiting for a ride at Rector St. around midnight recently.

“I need this station,” said Eric Marin, 33, of Bay Ridge, said after another late at night in at the office.

“To take it away would make it virtually impossible for me to get home late at night.”

The MTA also plans to raise fares in June, although they just went up in March.

“I think that given the fact that every time you turn around, there’s a fare increase, I’d assume services were at least being maintained,” Marin said. “Otherwise, what are you paying for?”

Without Rector St., riders would have to walk to the Lexington Ave. line stations at Wall St. or Bowling Green for trips that would require additional transfers to get home.

*Waiting thirty minutes for trains in the middle of the night, on the other hand . . .

Breathe A Sign Of Relief — All Is Back To Normal — The City Council Is Back To Regular Business

Worldwide economic meltdown, transit system collapsing, city and state finances a disaster . . . and then there’s the word “ghetto”:

Not only is Maria Baez not ghetto, she wants the word symbolically banned in New York City.

On Dec. 9, as the rest of the City Council was negotiating with Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg over additional proposed budget cuts and spending reductions to soften the impact of the financial crisis on the city, Ms. Baez, who represents part of Kingsbridge, introduced a resolution that would impose the ban.

. . .

And it stands out because Ms. Baez rarely got involved in lawmaking this year, based on a count of the legislation she sponsored or co-sponsored. The say-no-to-ghetto bill is the second resolution introduced this year to bear Ms. Baez’s name. She also co-sponsored two introductions.

How Sheekey Of That Guy . . .

It’s no wonder people are resigned to having Caroline Kennedy as their next senator when you hear what’s going on behind the scenes on her behalf:

When a powerful labor leader picked up the phone this week, he was surprised to hear the voice of a top aide to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.

The aide, Kevin Sheekey, a deputy mayor, made it clear: Caroline Kennedy is going to be the next senator from New York, “so get on board now,” according to a person with direct knowledge of the call.

As Ms. Kennedy’s unusual campaign for the seat takes shape, the mayor’s top political strategist is pushing hard behind the scenes for her, with Mr. Bloomberg’s blessing.

The involvement has helped immediately elevate and coordinate the debut of Ms. Kennedy, who lacked an experienced political staff of her own.

But now, it is setting off a backlash among some Democrats who see in her well-orchestrated emergence the same message of inevitability and entitlement that surrounded Mr. Bloomberg’s successful bid for a third term — a campaign overseen by Mr. Sheekey.

They worry that the Bloomberg administration’s advocacy for Ms. Kennedy will only reinforce her image as a privileged Upper East Sider whose biggest base of support is from Manhattan’s exclusive social set.

“It appears to be another case of central casting by the city’s cognoscenti,” said a Democratic city councilman, John C. Liu. “It’s amazing how much it’s all about the upper crust.”

Rory I. Lancman, a state assemblyman, said that there was “a growing concern that high public office is being reserved for a better class of people — people who can buy into it like Michael Bloomberg or people who can come into it through their celebrity like Caroline Kennedy.”

. . .

Questions about Mr. Sheekey’s role prompted Mr. Bloomberg to declare on Wednesday that the mastermind of his two political campaigns was acting on behalf of Ms. Kennedy as a private citizen, not as a public employee.

“If Kevin in his private time wants to make calls for that, that’s his choice,” Mr. Bloomberg said. When asked whether he was supporting Ms. Kennedy’s bid for the Senate, the mayor said: “I am not out there campaigning for anyone.”

Nothing But Net(s)

Right into the wastebasket:

In yet another slap against developer Forest City Ratner, architect Frank Gehry has axed nearly every employee working on the stalled Atlantic Yards project, sources told the Daily News.

“Almost all the people working on the Brooklyn project got laid off,” said a source familiar with the cuts who claimed the developer had refused to pay Gehry additional costs for design revisions. “Basically, he’s not willing to pay.”

Gehry’s Los Angeles-based firm laid off two dozen employes working on the Atlantic Yards projects the day before Thanksgiving, according to sources.

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.

Juicy! Nuclear!

When rich rogues aren’t stealing from us and each other to support their conspicuous Manhattan lifestyle, roguish governments are using Manhattan real estate as a front for their unneighborly activities:

The Fifth Avenue building that houses Juicy Couture’s flagship store is secretly owned in part by an Iranian bank that helps fund Tehran’s nuclear program, the feds charged yesterday in a bid for an ownership stake.

The Manhattan federal court case targets a 40 percent interest in 650 Fifth Ave. held by the Assa Corp., an alleged front company for Iran’s state-owned Bank Melli.

The bank has “facilitated the purchase of sensitive materials utilized by Iran’s nuclear and missile industries,” according to the Treasury Department.