It’s The “Ketchup, Mustard Or Relish” Race Of Architecture

Inferiority complex, anyone? The results are in on the race to number two:

The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park will reshape Manhattan’s skyline and force a revision of the record books that catalog the city’s giants.

The 54-story building stands 945 feet tall, but tops out at 1,200 feet with the addition of an ornamental spire, inheriting the title of New York’s second-tallest skyscraper. It was held by the Chrysler Building since Sept. 11, 2001, when the Twin Towers were destroyed and the Empire State Building returned to the top spot.

“The building is topped off already,” said Jordan Barowitz, director of external affairs of the Durst Organization, the real estate development firm that partnered with BofA to erect the building. “The last piece of steel went in a few weeks ago and the first tenants will arrive in May 2008.”

One Bryant Park doesn’t break any records without its decorative spire, but the use of such a device to raise a tower’s bragging rights isn’t out of the ordinary.

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.

U Will B Late 2 Work

The MTA has identified high-tech and low-tech ways to improve service when bad weather happens; hopefully your Blackberry can fend off three-and-a-half inches of rain:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled plans yesterday for significant and costly changes to subway stations to prevent the shutdown of service that followed last month’s intense flooding.

The proposals include new ways to keep water out of the stations, like raising ventilation grates off the ground and building steps at subway entrances that would require passengers to walk up before descending into stations but would prevent rain from flowing downward.

The authority said it was also establishing an emergency response center, planning to install new valves in drain pipes to keep out stormwater and developing a system of customized e-mail and text message alerts for each subway line so riders would know about problems.

. . .

The deluge dumped as much as 3.4 inches of rain on parts of the city within a few hours and overwhelmed the transit system.

The report singled out the transportation authority’s failure to communicate with its workers and riders as a significant factor in the chaos that followed the storm.

Eight Years To Build, 25 Years To Renovate

Possible campaign slogan — Michael Bloomberg gets the job done:

Twenty-five years of repairs on the Manhattan Bridge are finally coming to an end, city officials announced yesterday.

The span’s lower deck with reopen on Oct. 1, roughly two weeks earlier than the scheduled completion date.

. . .

Just four lanes on the bridge have been open in recent years. In January, the seventh and final lane will reopen. Current repairs on the bridge, which opened in 1909, date to 1982 and have totaled $829 million, according to transportation officials. The bridge’s original cost was $31 million.

Location Scout: Manhattan Bridge.

Dare To Imagine A Time When There’s No More Need For Wesley Autrey

Well, for $2.1 billion we ought to be able to prevent a jumper or two:

The extension of the No. 7 subway line will boast twice as many doors to stand clear of. Officials said that as part of the $2.1 billion project extending the line from Times Square to the Javits Center, the new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue will feature platform-edge doors.

The glass doors will separate the platform from the tracks and line up with the doors of the trains.

Used on rail systems around the world, including the AirTrain at JFK Airport, they guard against passengers plunging off the platform and make it easier to control the climate in the station.

The station would be a test of the technology, which could one day be implemented on the planned Second Avenue line.