January 19, 1985

New Yorkers draw an acerbic portrait of metropolitan life, but are not nearly as gloomy about the city's future as in years past, a New York Times poll has found. While 40 percent of those polled four years ago predicted the city would become a worse place in which to live as it approached the turn of the century, only 31 percent say that now. Thirty percent say it will be better, the same proportion as four years ago. And fewer residents dream of moving to more placid places. In a paradox typical of the way New Yorkers regard their city, both the residents who think New York is getting better and those who feel it is declining are more likely than their counterparts polled in 1981 to want to remain.

President Reagan today named Max M. Kampelman, a Washington lawyer with political and diplomatic experience, to head the United States delegation to the new three-part arms-control talks with the Soviet Union. In an announcement read at the White House by Secretary of State George P. Shultz, the President said that in addition to serving as the overall chairman of the delegation, Mr. Kampelman would also head the separate group discussing space weapons. Under the agreement reached by Mr. Shultz with Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko last week in Geneva, the two sides agreed to hold talks on space weapons, strategic arms and medium- range missiles. Rowny Is Replaced In a move that caught arms-control officials by surprise, Mr. Reagan named John G. Tower, the former Republican Senator from Texas, to replace Edward L. Rowny as head of the group dealing with strategic arms.

President Reagan, in an interview published today, charged that some black leaders were ''committed politically'' to the Democratic Party and had distorted his record to ''keep their constituency aggrieved.'' ''I have to come to the conclusion that maybe some of those leaders are protecting some rather good positions that they have, and they can protect them better if they can keep their constituency aggrieved and believing that they have a legitimate complaint,'' Mr. Reagan said. ''If they ever become aware of the opportunities that are improving,'' he said, ''they might wonder whether they need some of those organizations.'' Mr. Reagan, who made his comments in an interview on Thursday with USA Today, did not say which black leaders he was talking about.

Public and private festivities preceding the inauguration went into full swing in Washington. Page 44. WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - The nation's capital, dressed in pageantry and snow, today began four days of festivities celebrating the second inauguration of President Reagan and Vice President Bush. Although not so grand or expensive as Mr. Reagan's first, in 1981, this inauguration will light the night sky with fireworks and salute the President and the Vice President with Hollywood entertainment, concerts, balls, youth forums, parties, exhibits and dozens of other glittering affairs.

President Reagan has decided that the Government will not take part in further World Court proceedings in Nicaragua's suit against the United States, the State Department announced today. The action marked the first time the United States has walked out of a case in the World Court, in defiance of the Court's rules, since joining the tribunal in 1946. The Court is formally known as the International Court of Justice. In a separate development, senior Administration officials said the United States had suspended the negotiations it began with Nicaragua last June over Central American security and related problems. The officials said the Nicaraguans seemed uninterested in serious exchanges. The Nicaraguan Deputy Foreign Minister deplored the suspension. (Page 4.)