FOR THE RECORD

The decline in public support for Governor Spitzer may have leveled off, but most New Yorkers believe he knew his aides were trying to embarrass Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno by leaking details of his state helicopter travel, according to a poll released last week.

And while the public thinks even less of Mr. Bruno, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's stock has soared in the wake of his investigation of the Troopergate mess, according to the survey of 1,504 registered voters conducted by Quinnipiac University during the final week of September.

Among those polled, 51 percent said they believed Mr. Spitzer was aware of the machinations of several close aides as they arranged to provide Mr. Bruno's travel itineraries - accompanied by schedules showing most of the time he spent on those trips was devoted to political rather than government business - to reporters. Seventy-eight percent of them believe he should be telling everything he knows, and 70 percent want him to testify under oath.

Mr. Spitzer's overall approval rating remained at 47 percent, which while having stabilized is a steep drop for a man who was elected with 70 percent of the vote 11 months ago and had an approval rating right around that during early spring.

His description of himself around that time as "a [bleeping] steamroller," has prompted Quinnipiac Polling Institute Director Mickey Carroll to keep asking voters whether they regard Mr. Spitzer that way. Just 45 percent of the recent respondents did so, compared to 50 percent in July, and it's conceivable that the Governor himself would be among the nay-sayers now.

On the positive side, 57 percent still believe he is trustworthy.

By comparison, only 30 percent approve of the job Mr. Bruno is doing and only 26 percent believe he can be trusted.

Mr. Cuomo, on the other hand, got the thumbs-up from 62 percent of those polled, with the Troopergate probe and his investigation of student loans and college administrators engaging in corrupt practices with lenders as the obvious explanations.

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Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe Sept. 30 unveiled the Korean War Veterans Memorial - which honors American military personnel who served in that conflict while also marking the 1953 cease-fire that ended the hostilities in Korea - in Kissena Park.

City Council Member John Liu played a key role in securing funding for the memorial. Mr. Benepe noted that the park is in Flushing, which happens to be the home of the city's largest Korean population.

The names of 172 Queens natives who lost their lives during that war are inscribed on the memorial, which also features a sculpture by William Crozier of a soldier whose face shows the anguish of war and a silhouette of five soldiers carrying a stretcher while scaling the mountain terrain where many battles were fought.

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The state Civil Service Commission, as part of what it described as its periodic review of localities' personnel practices, gave a "very good" rating to the City of New Rochelle for its adherence to the merit system.

The CSC found that the New Rochelle Civil Service Commission "effectively manages new and existing position classifications," "properly manages the process for making permanent, provisional and temporary appointments," and "maintains meticulous employee history records for employees under its jurisdiction."

It offered one quibble: while the city "maintains an active examination program ... efforts should be made to recruit more candidates for examinations."

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Last week's announcement of a deal to use Teachers Retirement System funds to build affordable housing in The Bronx - with educators getting preference for apartments - was a swan song of sorts for the heads of the Housing Development Corporation.

HDC President Emily Youssouf has moved over to J.P. Morgan Chase to serve as managing director of its affordable housing unit, and Executive Vice President John Crotty has accompanied her as executive director of the unit.