Interview with new UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan, who has come under criticism for slow and cautious efforts at reform; photo (M)

Despite Critics, New U.N. Chief Keeps His Style

Photography exhibit devoted to Central Park and other architectural legacies of Frederick Law Olmsted opens at Equitable Gallery in Manhattan; photo (S)

A Photo Survey of Frederick Law Olmsted

Robert Lipsyte column on Mark Seltman, a New York palm reader who forswears fortunetelling; he insists that what he sees in a person's hands can help them find new ways to look at his or her life; drawing (M)

Palm-Reading, Yes. Crystal Balls, No.

 The Rise of a Lobbyist  The ascent of a low-level Thai embassy official to a well-placed lobbying position shows how strenuously foreign businesses seek influence and access in Washington. Page 26.    Reining In At-Home Care  The Clinton Administration is looking for ways to bring Medicare's spending on home health care under control. Page 30.

INSIDE

Article by Robert Lipsyte on his weeklong visit to Official All-Star Cafe in New York City; photos (L)

At Sport's Shrine, Everything but a Game

Historic $10.2 billion merger of Morgan Stanley Group and Dean Witter, Discover Co was almost derailed on Jan 20 when Banc One Corp announced that it was buying First USA Inc, a credit card company, for $7.3 billion in stock; hefty price sent First USA's stock soaring $8.875 in a day; most stocks in the sector moved up, too; Dean Witter's climbed 7 percent in next few days; Morgan Stanley's did not; and some people familiar with talks advised Dean Witter's chief executive Philip J Purcell to lower his bid; Purcell knew that Morgan's brass--Richard B Fisher, chairman and chief executive, and John J Mack, president--wouild hear nothing of it; Purcell stood pat; photo (L)

How a Deal Crowned A New King Of Wall St.

Social costs and benefits of civil case verdict against O J Simpson and other efforts to use civil courts and Federal civil rights laws to retry suspects acquitted in criminal trials discussed; such cases trifle with integrity of unanimous jury verdict, put pressure on second juries to reach 'right' verdict and can involve high legal fees; drawing (M)

Tried and Tried Again, With a Vengeance

*Floyd Norris Market Watch column comments on possibility that, as Washington prepares for serious budget negotiations, there will emerge a deal that would give investors a brief oppotunity to sell stocks while paying an amazingly low tax bill; deal would include Republican plan to cut top rate on capital gains taxes from 28 percent to 19.8 percent, and would also include Pres Clinton's proposal to close what he sees as 'loopholes' that let people evade or reduce capital gains they owe (M)

Uncle Sam May Offer A Reason To Sell

Big contributors to Presidential and Congressional campaigns find gifts buy them access, but fewer explicit promises than were made few decades ago; sometimes compete against contributors with opposing interests; cartoon (M)

Money Politics, and Its Suckers

H R Block pushes into other areas, notably home mortgage market; company has put together, in just over year, package of $102 million in mortgages that it either originated or acquired from other lenders; photos; graph (M)

From Storefronts to Supermarkets

Hospice care enrollment swelled by 15 percent on Long Island, NY, last year because of aging population, favorable managed care reimbursement policies and its unusual position in middle of the end-of-life debate between physician-assisted suicide and high-tech hospital death; ten certified nonprofit hospice programs operate on Long Island, and Parker Jewish Geriatric Institute Hospice is scheduled to open in Lake Success shortly; photos (L)

Enrollments in Hospices Are Swelling

Shopping mall developers are trying to lure shopping with entertainment, which can include such attractions as food courts, skating rinks and game centers as well as movie theaters; say shoppers are bored with the sameness of mall, spending only about 70 minutes each trip to the mall, down from 90 minutes in early 1980's; entertainment planned for Meadowlands Mills in New Jersey (Mills Corp), Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY, (Pyramid Companies) and New Rochelle Center described; photos; drawing (L)

The Key to the Mall? That's Entertainment

James Sterngold article assesses the 1997 Bentley Azure; photo (M)

Best Convertible In a Leading Role

Jon Pareles profiles Irish rock band U2; finds that U2, a super band in the 80's, has grown older with its fans, but it still mines the new and courts the young; photo of band members Edge, Larry Mullen, Bono and Adam Clayton (L)

Searching For a Sound to Bridge The Decades

Finance ministers and central bankers from world's seven largest capitalist countries, partly shell-shocked and partly delighted by dollar's extraordinary surge in value in recent months, voice relief after signals from US that pause was in order; quickly nod in assent, day after Treas Sec Robert E Rubin issued broad hint that US has abandoned two-year effort to boost currency's value (M)

ALLIES WELCOMING U.S. HINT AT PAUSE IN DOLLAR'S SURGE

George Vecsey's Sports of The Times column on Nancy Lieberman-Cline, 38, and Lynette Woodard, 37, who have signed on for first season of Women's National Basketball Association, a two-month summer league; Lieberman-Cline and Woodard decided to play with women slightly more than half their age because opportunities kept closing off for their generation; photo (L)

New League Just in Time For Elders

Harsh winter weather brings particular hardship to Niagara Falls, New York State's proverbial Honeymoon Capital which is struggling with unromantic realities of unemployment, municipal debt and sickly downtown area that seems immune to revitalization; city planners say area has suffered economic hardships of many Northeast cities, only more so; attribute problems mainly to collapse industrial base after World War II and to subsequent migration of families to suburbs; almost 19 percent of city's residents live in poverty; more than half of housing stock was estimated to be substandard in 1989; photos (M)

Unromantic Economic Facts Cast Pall Over Niagara Falls

Raymond B Harding and Herman Badillo, two of most influential members of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's kitchen cabinet have built prosperous lobbying business at their law firm even as they continue to serve as close advisers to Giuliani, who controls very city agencies they are lobbying; New York City records show year before Giuliani took office, firm had three lobbying clients, but now has nearly 60; clients include companies and nonprofit groups, whose executives acknowledge they hired firm, Fischbein Badillo Wagner Harding, to try to gain advantage in winning contracts or favorable rulings from Giuliani administration; firm has grown in power despite Giuliani's repeated contention that he brought independent administration into City Hall, free of patronage, favoritism and other vestiges of clubhouse politics (M)

2 Giuliani Advisers Prosper From City Lobbying

Residential real estate concerns in Manhattan agree to set up an electronic data-communication network to provide one another with faster and more accurate information on listings shared with other offices (S)

Firms to Speed Exchange of Listings

Christian clergy in the Bronx rise above sectarian divides to press social issues together; non-Catholic churches are coming to the fore in the Bronx, but Roman Catholic Church remains a driving force in the continuing revitalization of the borough, where more than 560,000 of its 1.2 million residents are Catholic; photos (L)

It's No Longer The Church

First of two articles, A New Universe, focuses on recent discovery of first extrasolar planets by astronomers in US and abroad; discoveries have led scientists to proclaim new golden age of astronomy and has renewed enthusiasm in search for extraterrestrial life; discoveries by Drs Geoffrey W Marcy and R Paul Butler of San Francisco State University, and other teams in US and Switzerland, discussed; at least eight planet-sized objects, and possibly two more, have been detected orbiting other stars like Sun; diagrams; map (L)

In a Golden Age of Discovery, Faraway Worlds Beckon

New York Rangers defeat New York Islanders, 5-2, Nassau Coliseum; photo (L)

Messier's 3 Goals Make The Rangers Feel at Home

Sports utility vehicles of the future shown at Chicago Auto Show have an aggressive, off-road look but also luxury-car appointments and standards of ride, handling and fuel economy that approach those of family sedans; photo (M)

Future Trucks: Muscular but Soft Inside

Article on plight of albinos in Africa, notably Zimbabwe, where they are shunned and feared as products of witchcraft; far more than on any other continent, albinism is lifelong curse on African continent, where most albinos languish at home without education; most are near-sighted, and parents, told that such children die young, refuse to pay for schooling; Prof John M Makumbe, albino who heads Zimbabwe Albino Trust, comments; photos (M)

Black, Yet White: A Hated Color in Zimbabwe

 F.Y.I.   2    MAKING IT WORK   3  A harried Chelsea tenant wins a fight against her landlord. Was it really worth the trouble?

ALSO INSIDE

Jaire Zakar Alexander is an American professional football cornerback who is a free agent. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Jaire Alexander, American football player

Jaire_Alexander

Saquon Rasul Quevis Barkley is an American professional football running back for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he set several school records for his offensive production over three seasons before forgoing his senior year to enter the NFL.

Saquon Barkley, American football player

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Valentini Grammatikopoulou is a Greek tennis player. On 22 August 2022, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 143. On 15 July 2024, she peaked at No. 97 in the WTA doubles rankings. She has won a singles and a doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and in addition, 15 singles and 32 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

February 9, 1997

Headlines from February 9, 1997

Despite Critics, New U.N. Chief Keeps His Style

A Photo Survey of Frederick Law Olmsted

Palm-Reading, Yes. Crystal Balls, No.

INSIDE

At Sport's Shrine, Everything but a Game

Billboard 200

Tragic Kingdom

Evita

Romeo + Juliet

Falling Into You

Space Jam

Notable Births

Historical Context for February 9, 1997