June 19, 1992

Bragging about real-estate deals is to most New Yorkers what brandishing a fistful of wild animal pelts once was to the pioneers. It shows an ability to triumph over adversity and can humble the most bitter of rivals. But this week, residents of SoHo, TriBeCa, Chelsea and parts of Brooklyn went strangely quiet on the subject. "Uhm," mumbled Mac Adams, a sculptor who has lived in a sprawling TriBeCa loft since 1970, "can't you just say my rent is average?"

Companies Broadcast television networks could buy local cable systems under a change approved by the F.C.C. The new rule greatly relaxes a ban imposed in 1970 and could well overturn the traditional relationship between the networks and local affiliates. [ Page A1. ] A chain of in-vitro fertilization centers is providing hope for couples with problems conceiving. But physicians often choose a treatment based on what insurance covers. [ D1. ]

No government document is more political than a budget, and the one unveiled by the omnipotent new Republican legislative majority in Trenton today represents a stark repudiation of nearly two decades of moderate to liberal government under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Riding a tide of anti-tax anger in New Jersey, the Republicans rescinded or gutted a host of social and other programs for the poor and middle class endorsed not only by their archenemy Jim Florio, the Democratic Governor, but also by his Republican predecessor, Thomas H. Kean.

LOUIS I. KAHN believed that architecture "shouldn't just exist for itself; it should throw out sparks to others." Wear something flameproof to the Museum of Modern Art this summer. Better yet, just let the mind catch fire. The museum's new Kahn retrospective sends out more sparks than any architecture show in recent years. First shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last fall, "Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture" is immeasurably enriched by its current setting. For one thing, the show's installation, a tour de force of exhibition design by Arata Isozaki, is much improved. The lighting is clearer, the viewing spaces more compact. These refinements make it easier to focus on the detailed scale of Kahn's drawings and models and to see how his individual projects add up to a body of work.

Cayman Airways, the flag carrier of the Cayman Islands, started a war of words yesterday against American Airlines, whose 97,000 employees are almost four times the total population of the tiny British colony in the Caribbean. At issue is American's recent addition of a second daily flight between Miami and the islands. Because its fleet of four 737's would be no match for American's fleet of more than 600 planes, Cayman Airways wisely decided against an aerial dogfight. Instead, the weapon it chose was an advertisement in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, reproducing a letter it sent last week to Robert L. Crandall, American's chief executive. The letter appealed to American to discontinue its second daily flight at the risk of jeopardizing the jobs of Cayman Airways' 360 employees.