November 1, 1992

A Fear of Magic Some players and executives in the N.B.A. are indicating that they object to the return to pro basketball of Magic Johnson, who is infected with H.I.V. SportsSunday, section 8. With AIDS, a Simpler Life In the Hamptons and other resorts, gay men with AIDS are turning summer cottages into year-round residences as they simplify what remains of their lives. Page 49. Gunfire Explodes in Luanda Echoes of Angola's years of civil war were felt in the capital as fierce fighting broke out between Government troops and rebels. Page 12. After the Fires, Frustration Six months after the Los Angeles riots, no one has been able to harness the good will that followed them and address the causes. Page 20.

There's a place for us. A place that stands for popular culture and its contribution to the city and the world. Times Square is a raucous, commercial monument to the idea that vernacular art has played as vital a role as government in the making of modern democracy. It is where the Popular and the Cultural converge, where crowds cross paths with icons: pop songs, pop drinks, chorus lines, headlines, hemlines, posters, cartoons, paperbacks, magazine covers, billboards, blue jeans, lipsticks, double features. Even in its present state of disrepair, the mix remains a lure. People still show up to bask in Times Square's luminous collage of stage, screen and neon. Though the lights have dimmed, public anticipation has not died. Today, this self-styled crossroads of the world stands at a crossroads itself. The suspension, last summer, of plans for Times Square Center, the complex of four large office towers designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, has again opened up public debate on the future of Times Square. The millennium may come and go before market conditions permit development of the project's dormant sites. But the first steps toward the future will be taken within the next few weeks with an interim plan to restore restaurants, shops and theaters on 42d Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It's not too soon to think through the prospects.

Three weeks ago, Democrats were confident that they were rolling toward a sweeping victory in Senate races across the country, giving them a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority needed to pass strong gun-control legislation and codify abortion rights. But in a twist of fortunes even more marked than that in the Presidential race, Republican Senate candidates have made steady gains in the last 10 days, producing tight races in 11 of the 34 seats contested on Nov. 3. They have advanced most markedly in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington and Wisconsin, all states where Republicans were seen as sure losers only a few weeks ago.

Developers have had modest success in carving office spaces out of the upper floors of Ladies' Mile buildings on Sixth Avenue below 23d Street. But retailers have not followed new office tenants to the huge turn-of-the century buildings there. That may change with the opening today of Bed, Bath and Beyond, a 50,000-square-foot home accessories store that will occupy the ground floor of the former Siegel-Cooper building at 620 Sixth Avenue, between 18th and 19th Streets. The store has also leased an equal amount of basement space. Most of the upper floors in the six-story building are vacant.

As the election nears, there are clear signs of improvement in the economy, or at least in some parts of it. Perhaps more importantly, it appears that middle-class voters are more optimistic than at any time since early 1990. Those signs, to be sure, are limited. For every good piece of economic news in recent weeks, there has been a bad one. The surprisingly strong economic growth rate of 2.7 percent in the third quarter, which President Bush trumpeted last week, could easily be revised downward, and in any case is weaker than the first-quarter figure. Those who expect the economy to keep stuttering have plenty of evidence to support their position.