June 1, 1994

Smashing what they described as a smuggling ring that brought children to Brooklyn from Jamaica, detectives raided a Flatbush apartment yesterday and arrested five adults they accused of collecting thousands of dollars from anxious immigrant parents. Two children had arrived from Jamaica over the weekend -- a boy and a girl, each 9 years old, the police said. They were sharing bunk beds in the cramped two-bedroom apartment with six younger children who are relatives of the adults who were taken into custody. All eight appeared to be in good condition, the police said, but as a precaution they were taken to local hospitals for observation.

Public Workers' Free Speech A splintered Supreme Court defined the free-speech rights of government employees, placing new limits on the power of agencies to punish workers for what they say. Page A18. Cuomo's Good Old Days As Governor Cuomo prepares to run again, with his popularity dangerously low, his approach is a politics of nostalgia aimed at reminding voters why they once admired him. Page B1. Canucks Win the Opener After a shot by Brian Leetch of the Rangers hit the crossbar, the Canucks' Greg Adams scored and Vancouver beat New York, 3-2, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. Page B11.

With property insurance companies facing worse-than-expected claims from the California earthquake, the industry is signaling homeowners that they can expect higher premiums, tougher guidelines on what will be insured and fewer companies offering earthquake policies. Steve Young, director of a trade group representing insurance agents and brokers, said the desire of insurance companies to limit their exposure to future earthquake losses was "a crisis in the making for California insurance consumers." In the months since the January earthquake, more and more California property owners have been trying to buy earthquake insurance.

As Gov. Mario M. Cuomo prepares to run for a fourth term, with his popularity dangerously low, he has been talking a lot about the good old days. His approach is a politics of nostalgia, Cuomo-style, aimed at reminding voters why they once admired him. He pines for his chronological youth -- for days when jobs were plentiful and trouble on the streets meant fist fights, not guns and drugs. And he talks of his political youth as well: those glorious first two terms when New York's streaking economy and Mr. Cuomo's Presidential prospects made him one of the most popular governors in state history. "Everybody says stop looking backward, look forward," said the 61-year-old Governor, who will be nominated here Wednesday at the convention of the Democratic State Committee. "But if you take those years '83 through '89, it's hard to separate them from my rationale. Those years were so good you wanted me to be President. I haven't changed."

Until the crackdown in mid-April, student smokers had practically taken over the four bathrooms at Hopewell Valley Central High School here, filling them with a thick haze between classes. "Really gross," said Amy Consoli, a sophomore. And Dennis Lin, a senior on the tennis team, said, "Smoke would get on your clothes, in your hair and on your skin." Nonsmokers often emerged from the bathrooms to have teachers accuse them of smoking.