U.S. terror attack was averted -- this time

This is the way it's supposed to work.

The would-be terrorist is discovered early in his plotting. His schemes are recorded every step of the way. His bomb's a phony. His cohorts are on the FBI payroll. Evil as his motives appear to be, the public is never in danger from beginning to end.

And now, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, the accused Federal Reserve bomb plotter, stands charged with repeatedly trying to detonate a fake 1,000-pound car bomb outside the headquarters of the American dollar.

Through some combination of investigative skill, perpetrator incompetence and simple luck, disaster was averted again.

But it won't always be. So many people wish us harm and we choose to live so openly -- someone, somewhere is bound to slip through.

And when that happens, as inevitably it will, what will that do to us?

Will we come together, as we did after 9/11, and then stay together, as we did not? In fear, will we surrender the freedom and openness we so treasure?

Will we find a way to punish the perpetrator and not the innocent? Will we be proud of ourselves when we look back?

After this latest arrest, we don't have to face such difficult questions. Not immediately we don't.

But we will. We will.

PREP COURSE

1. Security cameras

2. Extra guards

3. Retina scans

4. Building sign-ins

5. Remembering what makes us better than our enemies

ASKED AND UNANSWERED: So many homes in foreclosure, so many returning war vets: Isn't there a deal in here to be made? . . . How many career doors are opened by reaching the final four -- though not winning -- Lifetime's "Project Runway"? Rising Massapequa designer Christopher Palu will now find out . . . Are the NIMBYs now targeting senior housing too? Where exactly should the old folks live if not in a 444-unit development on East Northport's Elwood Road? They can't all go to Florida . . . Is there a nastier race anywhere than Rick Montano versus Phil Boyle for Owen Johnson's old Babylon-based State Senate seat? The 4th District venom is making Romney-Obama sound like a lovefest . . . Free bike lockers at the Huntington LIRR station? How many more reasons do you need to start your commute on two wheels? . . . Nassau Democrats are running "lifelong Republican" Joanne Maglione to fill the unexpired term of the late Peter Schmitt, a race that could tip party balance in the Nassau Legislature? Do I have that straight? . . . Got a bad Mani-Pedi from a Tinny Beauty School "grad"? Attorney General Eric Schneiderman fingers the Flushing cosmetology academy for "defrauding consumers and the state to make a profit." . . . Have LI men lost interest in what Hooters is selling? Local operators say a franchise dispute, not some major shift in male focus, doomed the breastaurants in East Meadow, Farmingdale, Islandia and Fresh Meadows.

THE NEWS IN SONG: The Black Eyed Peas ask, "Where Is the Love?" tinyurl.com/lovewhere

LONG ISLANDERS OF THE WEEK: THE HOFSTRA HOSTS

The rancor still lingers from Tuesday's debate. The candidates, the moderator, the questioners -- let them all be second-guessed. One result wasn't debatable at all: The students, faculty, administrators and staff of Hofstra University hosted a truly first-class event. Coddling many oversized egos. Satisfying tight-deadline demands. Offering big-league facilities with genuine hospitality. Ensuring that a national audience of 65 million got the well-produced show that they deserved. Don't blame them if the candidates still stumbled or the Gallup-picked questioners seemed clueless. They did our part and then some. And don't be surprised if the 2016 presidential campaign includes a Hofstra debate. Why go anywhere else?

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