There were so many important issues that cropped up last week – an alleged bias incident in Howard Beach, the new design at the World Trade Center site, and a Supreme Court resignation causing abortion rights advocates to hyperventilate – that my opinion meter was going into overdrive. The festivities of the Fourth of July weekend, however, prompted me to pen this column of good news, a result of an intense feeling of gratitude for living in the best city in the world, in the best country.

New Yorkers tend to complain a lot, so this old native will remind everyone that in 2005 this is one heck of a town. You have to leave this burg to appreciate how fantastic our transportation system is, and how far one can travel for a single low fare. I live in Staten Island, and my MetroCard allows me to transfer to the subway system, which will transport me miles away to the tip of the Bronx. Take a bus from Port Authority to Bear Mountain and you can hike the Appalachian Trail, or take a ferry from Wall Street to the Highlands of New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. This town is truly the crossroads to the nation.

Although it may be hard to imagine that our transportation system is comfortable, I am still grateful for air-conditioned buses and subways. The old trains I rode in as a child had only rickety ceiling fans that were frequently out of order. Sweltering was a fact of life, and relief was rarely in sight for those of us in the barrio. Open hydrants cooled the denizens, but not the tempers of the passing motorists who failed to shut their windows in time. My days were spent looking out the window at the dramas erupting during the hot, sticky days of summer.

The wailing of police sirens was heard more frequently than the chirping of birds.

Perhaps one of the things we should be most grateful for is how the crime rate has spiraled downward, and, while any city of this size can still be dangerous, it is nothing compared to what it was in the 1950s. I lived in a dangerous neighborhood where even the police feared to tread.

Residents routinely harassed cops, pelting them with garbage and beer cans whenever officers were summoned to settle a domestic dispute.

I can still remember my neighbors’ shouting a warning that the cops were coming so that miscreants could escape capture. Such an anarchic environment has not been seen in New York City in many years. Indeed, nowhere in the city has ever been as bad as what many European cities are experiencing today.

In Britain, public-housing developments are euphemistically called “estates,” and the very worst ones resemble the Wild West, with outlaws reigning supreme.

I lived in Carver Housing on Madison Avenue, and while it wasn’t the best place to live after 10 p.m., the New York Police Department still kept the lid on the criminal activity.

Thank God the officers finally are getting a raise.

So very much of the city and so many of its cultural attractions can be enjoyed free of charge. Every type of food is abundant. One friend of ours managed to bring his mother from Cuba, and when he took her to a local Pathmark, she nearly passed out in disbelief at the variety of goods that were stacked on the shelves. Truly, we are a blessed nation.

And while we’re speaking of this blessed nation, here’s good news from an emerging nation that, many soldiers returning from Iraq tell me, Americans are not hearing.

Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq? Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated, 346 schools are under rehabilitation, 38 new schools have been completed, and 263 schools are now under construction?

Iraq has 20 universities, 46 colleges, and four research centers all operating. It has a fully operational navy and air force. Its stock exchange opened in June 2004.

The Iraqi Police Service has more than 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers. Its five police academies produce 3,500 new officers every eight weeks.

Fully 96% of Iraqi children under 5 have received their first two series of polio vaccinations.

Much remains to be done, but eventually Iraqis will be celebrating their own independence day, with festive instead of lethal fireworks. Spread the good news.