November 5, 1998

Article discusses effect Repr Charles E Schumer's victory in Senate race over Sen Alfonse D'Amato will have on New York State politics; Senator Alfonse M D'Amato, who has long reigned as undisputed king of New York's Republican Party, will turn over that title to Gov George Pataki, who swept to re-election over Democrat Peter F Vallone; Representative Charles E Schumer, by virtue of his defeat of D'Amato, will be expected by many state Democrats to head party; photo (M)

Tom McIntyre sets up a telescope on Broadway at 65th Street on clear nights to allow passing New Yorkers to see sights like the Moon's Sea of Tranquillity and the moons of Jupiter (M)

Strength of car and truck sales in October continues to surprise Wall Street analysts and auto executives as more figures are released; October turned out to be one of strongest months in history and puts industry on track for its best year in a decade; total vehicle sales in US for October totaled 1,368,567 cars and light trucks, a 9.8 percent increase compared with sales a year ago; car sales rose 7.1 percent, to 712,407 units; truck sales increased 12.9 percent, to 656,160 vehicles; General Motors Corp says sales increased 6 percent compared with those a year earlier; Ford Motor Co says sales rose 2.1 percent, to 333,522 cars and trucks, on target with analysts' projections but higher than Ford expected; graph; charts (M)

Congressional Republicans, stunned by Democratic resurgence in midterm elections, disagree over who is to blame for their failure to make traditional opposition party gains in off-year election; soul-searching and recriminations--and possibility of Congressional leadership challenges--come as election results show that Republicans have been unable to increase their 55-to-45-vote margin in Senate and that Democrats have picked up five seats in House; Democratic surge is first time since 1934 that President's party has gained seats in midterm election and it whittles Republican lead in House down to 12 votes and majority to 6; Democratic victories are even more remarkable in year marked by scandal over Pres Clinton's affair with Monica S Lewinsky; Republicans' new 223-to-211 majority amounts to smallest Congressional majority since Republican-led Congress of 1953; photo (M)

Metropolitan news, aside from election coverage, begins today on page D1, with a second part starting on page D13. SportsThursday begins on page D5.