Bunkered down

A water main breaks, a re-routed bus is blamed, but all the paper wants to do is bring up Archie.

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.

Pipe break floods Archie Bunker's TV home

Simmering tensions erupted on Sept. 14 when a main at 88th St. and Cooper Ave. broke at about 3:15 p.m. Water wasn't restored for nearly 19 hours, said Mercedes Lopez, a spokeswoman for the city Environmental Protection Department.

Lopez said the agency is "not attributing" the break to bus traffic. She refused to speculate why it broke until the agency completes an analysis.

Marisa Baldeo, a spokeswoman for New York City Transit, which changed the Q54 route, also said there is "no indication" the buses caused the main break.