Daily News from New York, New York • 38

09 1 GEARING UP HKIS HM py comet smm DULY NEWS Volunteer masseuse Becky ftschek with Navy's David Young. A Comfort rescuers 1 1 Ull i HE, IIIL III. I IHLJMU'ULL WP' I UA 'JWWU '5 -a i I -f s-ii Sr- a 'vi -1 V- tv i 1- 5 p.y 'W By lSUE CASBWR DULY NEWS STAFF WRITER During the Gulf War, the Comfort, a white ship emblazoned with red crosses, served as a hospital for the wounded. And when the Navy ship was deployed last week to New York after the World Trade Center attack, there were 80 doctors aboard ready to treat casualties. But when it became clear the dead would outnumber the severely injured, the 894-foot ship docked at Pier 91 on the Hudson was converted to a much-needed refuge for emergency workers.

At the end of their marathon shifts, bleary-eyed workers are bused to the Comfort from Ground Zero or from other security posts throughout the city. They come to get a shower, some sleep and a respite from the grim work of rescue and recovery. The crew has been serving 2,000 meals a day and the ship has a nice but little-known feature: one-hour laundry service for the workers. "I've been working 16-hour shifts, and we have no time to relax I'm working on adrenaline," said NYPD Sgt. James Spears as he ate a lunch of French onion soup, chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.

"This is the best meal I've had since the World Trade Center incident." The Comfort's emergency room has been turned into a spa, staffed by local massage therapists who have volunteered time and skills to perform such tasks as rubbing lavender-scented lotion on exhausted men and women. The doctors who stayed behind have been treating patients for dehydration, respiratory problems, flu and fatigue. "We're trying to tell them to take care of themselves, get at least two square meals a day," said IX Cmdr. Steven Olive, a doctor. "But try telling this to a firefighter who's got buddies missing out there.

They tell you, 'How quick can I get out of They feel very guilty." Battery Park City residents make their way down Broadway toward their homes yesterday. Many say frafffi liiltaire Ino Officials switched some southbound lanes of 1 1th Ave. to northbound yesterday between W. 34th and W. 42nd Sts.

in a bid to alleviate congestion on Manhattan's West Side. Suspended train service will resume its normal route tomorrow, running from 168th St. in Manhattan to Euclid Ave. in Brooklyn. trains will skip the Chambers St.

station, Transit Authority spokesman Al O'Leary said. trains will no longer be diverted into Brooklyn as they were under a temporary plan. The last southbound stop will be Canal St. By PETE D0N0HUE Mliy NEWS STAFF WRITER Tomorrow could be the longest commute for drivers since the World Trade Center catastrophe but newly reopened and additional routes to, from and within Manhattan are planned, transportation officials said yesterday. Two Brooklyn-bound "lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will reopen to cars tomorrow morning, a move intended to help unclog city streets and other East River spans, city Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall said.

Officials were working out logistics yes terday, but said access would be provided from the southbound FDR Drive and from Manhattan streets. "We've got the go-ahead from the police," Weinshall said. "It's going to happen. "Right now, all the traffic going to Brooklyn is being serviced by the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. Clearly, the demand is greater than they can provide.

"This would alleviate Brooklyn-bound traffic. It's another step toward normalizing traffic patterns in the city." In other transportation developments:.