Page 693 - Demo

Off the Record b y P e t e r H a l e yFF.RRIS PUTS MCAI. RF.PTTRnr.ANS IN SLOPE DECLINEAlthough he had a tougher Democratic primary than he might have hoped, Park Slope Assemblyman Joe Ferris seems to be rubbing out the former local Republican strength in the area. Ferris carried every election district and indeed outdrew former Park Slope Congressman-now-Governor Hugh Carey at the polls in November. That means many voters who started out as Republicans at the top of the ballot (Duryea versus Carey) changed their minds by the time they reached the bottom Assembly rung and picked Ferris over Republican candidate Alice D%u2019Ernie.SLOW BURN IN DEMOCRATIC STATE PARTY RANKS The role of a district leader is a political one, rather than a legislative one, and their responsibility is to get out the votes for party candidates and sacrifice any personal qualms about certain candidates in the near-sacred interests of party unity. Rumour has it that a few state Democratic Party leaders are miffed over an apparent heresy by Park SlopeDemocratic district leader Tony Caraccioloduring the November elections. Some Dem captains in Caracciolo%u2019s domain were seen passing out palm cards that had Democratic State Senate candidate Jack Carroll%u2019s name chopped off in favor of his opponent for the 21st State Senatorial District seat, Republican Chris Mega. Local Party regulars insisted that only one guy who had a %u201cgrudge%u201d against Carroll was responsible and except for this political deviate, everyone else was pulling for Carroll. Others have their doubts. Some state Dem leaders feel that Caracciolo laid the blame of his candidate John Zito%u2019s primary loss to reformer Carroll on the weak support from party regulars. Rather than swallow the bitter pill that party leaders on all levels occasionally ingest, the story goes Caracciolo decided to get even. In any case, Carroll lost and not by much (1500 votes) which probably increased the ire of state Dems who wanted this longtime Republican seat in the Democratic column. Punishment in politics is not always swift but some insiders say that it will be harder for Caracciolo to lay claim to any statepatronage this tim e around. O f course,had State Senator Manfred Ohrenstein and the State Democratic legislative caucus invested more monev in the Carroll campaign, the outcome might have been different.POLS AND CULTURE BOSSES TO FETE CONKLINCarroll and Mega never would have run if it had not been for the retirement of 26-year Albany veteran William Conklin. The Republican state senator bows out in January for which Mega at least is very thankful. Before he does, though, leaders of New York City%u2019s Cultural Commission on the Arts increased state funding for cultural institutions from $2 million to over $30 million, will honor the Bay Ridge State Senator with a dinner celebration at Lincoln Center. On the dinner committee is a mishmash of cultural and political figures%u2014politicos who think Gertrude Stein was an East Flatbush district leader in the 50%u2019s%u2014will mingle with cultural mavens who think Anthony Genovese is a tenor. There will also be many %u201cHonorable%u201d types like former Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller. Governor Hugh Carey, uncrowned Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, exiting Assembly Speaker Stanley Steingut, Senate minority leader Manfred Ohrenstein, Senate majority leader Warren Anderson, and others are on the Committee including the museum crowd: Brooklyn Museum%u2019s Michael Botwinick, Brooklyn Children Museum%u2019s Lloyd Hezekiah, city Cutural Affairs Commissioner Henry Geldzahler and %u201c performers%u201d like BAM%u2019s Harvey Lichtenstein and the Public Theater%u2019s Joseph Papp. Who knows? Maybe the pols will entertain with some of their own artful acts. Imagine Carey together with Perry Duryea (another Committee member) performing their %u201cI%u2019m OK, You%u2019re a Jerk%u201d comedy routines that played so well during their televised campaign debates. Or maybe Duryea along with Steingut and fellow Committee member and soon to be former Lieutenant Governor Mary Ann Krupsak will form the Lame Ducks, an improvisational theater group whose repertoire will be comprised of recent campaigns and platforms.C o p i n g by Judy LinscotfL ig h tin g L u c h o w %u2019s T re e W ith T he L u m in a rie sOne of the more entertaining aspects of the Christmas season is the various traditions that go along with it, from the quiety delightful to the mawkishly commercial. Somewhere surely in between those two extremes lies%u2014or hangs%u2014the infamous Luchow%u2019s Christmas Tree, and its annual celebratory lighting.Last week%u2019s lighting at the 14th Street German eatery%u2014perhaps second only to Mama Leone%u2019s in reputation for that rare combination of heavy handed food and decor%u2014was its 33rd annual event. The atmosphere was a little like that of a holiday function at a dying political club with everyone looking like they%u2019d been through too many already.The luncheon guests included what seemed to be 10,000 senior citizens, supplied by Catholic Charities. The dignitaries included Cardinal Cooke, a %u201cSurprise%u201d Helen Hayes, Mayor Ed Koch, MTA Chairman Harold Fisher, Manhattan Borough President Andy Stein, ex-mayor Abe Beame and Rep. Mario Biaggi. All together, they were what can only be called an odd collection. One group was there, presumably, to eat; the other group to glad-hand. The press was somewhere in the middle, which is to say not quite sure why it was there, except that it was an Event. The kind that%u2019s supposed to define itself as it goes%u2014and never quite gets there.Everyone kept getting in the way of everyone else. The press table, for no explicable reason, was stuck off in a room separate from the dignitaries%u2019 dais, necessitating much hopping up and down and fighting through crowded tables to accommodate both the food and the function. The Tree was in yet another room. Santa Claus kept getting separated from the Cardinal and the Mayor, whom he was supposed to be trailing. The Cardinal and the Mayor, meanwhile, waltzed around arm in arm, shaking hands and blowing kisses, an odd but oddly similar couple%u2014both pink, balding and brightly officious. The guests, meanwhile, were trying to eat their pumpernickel and mashed potatoes, which was none too quick in the coming.No one seemed overly impressed with the fact that the Mayor was there, if indeed most of them were aware of who he was. Koch pushed from table to table, arbitrarily selecting an innocent at his vegetables and bellowing into his ear, %u201cHow%u2019m I doin?%u201d To which the inevitable response was a polite but vague smile, as if to suggest he%u2019d do better if he didn%u2019t y%u00a7ll quite so loud. The Cardinal got a consistently warmer response%u2014pronawy because in his black robe, he was easy to recognize as someone Important, as well as a Man of Faith.Sfcnta, trailing behind looking uncomfortably warm in his getup, butnearly impossible not to recognize, got the biggest response of all. %u201cThe Mayor%u2019s mad at me,%u201d he grumbled. %u201cI upstaged him, so now he%u2019s mad.%u201dOur press table received the overflow of the elderly lunch crew, which proved to be%u2018The Cardinal and theMayor, meanwhile,waltzed around arm inarm, shaking hands andblowing kisses...anodd, but oddly similarcouple%u2014 both pinkbalding and brightlyofficious.%u2019throwing kisses to me and most of the girls were throwing kisses to him.%u201d Silence. Nobody quite gets it. So Cooke throws it to Koch, by way of introduction: %u201cYou want to explain that?%u201d Koch obviously doesn%u2019t. So instead he talks about the %u201cextraordinary warmth and love%u201d he met while waltzing with the Cardinal and says that he hopes both he and Cooke %u201cwill be coming back for the next 12 years.%u201d Which isn%u2019t exactly what he meant to say, but he realizes it too late to recover. %u201cHe%u2019s still running for election?%u201d says Msgr. Leone. %u201cMy God.%u201dMsgr. Leone decides to tell us how he came to be here; it%u2019s a long story that started with a glaucoma operation last year and subsequent introduction to a variety of city social workers, one of whom called him at the last minute and said %u201cWould you like lunch at Luchows?%u201d %u201cSo I said, %u2018Why not?%u2019 But I%u2019m all confused. I thought we were going to lunch at Luchow%u2019s and I thought,7Why would we have lunch at a Chinese restaurant?%u2019 Well, I brought my friend Henrich here%u201d (Leone peers at Henrich, still in his coat and scarf) %u201cand we were the last ones in. They told me to tell them at the door that I%u2019m from St. Bridget%u2019s. So I told them I%u2019m from the main office of Cardinal Cooke%u2019s. But I%u2019ll never be here again because Henrich says he%u2019s bored to death. Didn%u2019t you?%u201d Msgr. Leone leans over to Henrich, who does indeed look bored and who responds with an indulgent smile.With much fanfare, it is announced that Tammy Sue Liebowitz will sing %u201cAve Maria.%u201d Despite her unlikely sounding name, Tammy Sue manages a creditablerendition after a false start or two. Sensing that things are really going to get moving now, the press exits to the main room. Mayor Beame is staring transfixed, like a bulldog waiting for a train. The staff is staring transfixed like they%u2019ve seen it all before. On the last note the trail of dignitaries squeezes its way down to the Tree, hanging from the ceiling like a fat pear. It looks like it might ripen and fall any minute now. %u201c You knowTannenbaum?%u201d someone Official Looking mutters in the ear of the oompah band leader, %u201c No Silent Night. PlayTannenbaum.%u201d The oompah band dutifully shuffles into the sea of bodies, ready to play.It is getting progressively hotter and stuffier in this room. Santa, wedged in down between the Tree and the Cardinal, is sweating and looking a trifle glum. At a nearby table, there is a growing altercation over the last of the bread basket. The Cardinal, bathed in a pool of television camera light, says a few forgettable words and plugs in the Tree. The Tree pops on. The crowd cheers. The oompah band obligingly strikes up %u201cTannebaum.%u201d Santa waves his arm around.It is done.Back at the table, Msgr. Leone is holding forth on the quality of the dessert, some sort of apple concoction. His friend Henrich has long since made his exuses.%u201cI told you he was bored,%u201d says Msgr. Leone, leaning forward conspirator illy. %u201cI knew it because he never even took off his coat.%u201dthe afternoon%u2019s saving grace. A gentleman who introduced himself as %u201cMonsignor Leone%u201d immediately sized up the situation: %u201cSo they got the Mayor here,%u201d he said. %u201cThat%u2019s pretty good. Two years ago they didn%u2019t get the Mayor here.%u201d He sat back, satisfied and added, as if by way of explanation: %u201cTwo years ago Toots Shor was here and now he%u2019s dead.%u201d We attack the fruit cocktail.The fruit cocktail having been dispensed with, it%u2019s time for speeches, starting with Helen Hayes (%u201cooooooh,%u201d says the crowd). Helen Hayes gets up and says that Cooke will say grace (%u201caaaaaah,%u201d says the crowd) for all %u201cthe girls and boys here%u201d (Monsignor Leone groans audibly). Cooke gets up and thanks the Mayor for coming and says that the crowd wants to thank him. too. Dead silence. %u201cYou wanna give him a hand, right?%u201d Cooke hints. The crowd manages a some half-hearted applause. (The chicken and gravy is beginning to arrive). Cooke makes a funny joke: %u201cNow while I was walking around with the Mayor, most of the boys wereS o u n d O f f feedback from ReadersSorry Wrong NumberWe were delighted to see your article in the Centerfold section of your Arts Special edition (Nov. 2) on %u201c Solar Yoga and Arts Center.%u201d However, the telephone number given to call for more information was printed incorrectly. For anyone interested in more information on Yoga classes, vegetarian cooking classes and other activities at the center, please call 499-3669.%u2014Mindy Fnunin, director, The Solar Yoga & Arts Center, Ninth StreetA ___ _______ A t____ _____ l _V s u i i o c i i i n u u u i i u b1 read your recent article, %u201cCumberland Closing Still Spurs Concern%u201d (10/16).Additional evidence of this %u201cconcern%u201d abounds. Both the Health Systems Agency Sub-Area Council %u201c A%u201d and CommunityBoard 2 want Cumberland Hospital to remain open.I understand that the State has approved more than 100,000,000 dollars for the modernization of Methodist, Long Island College and Brooklyn Hospitals.Cumberland Hospital must be modernized too! The money is available. The cost is reasonable. The need is great.%u2014Howard Zimmerman, Pierrepont Streetw r it e u s tTU%u00a3N ew AppRESS (S :ATLANTIC AVIS.November 30,1978, THE PHOENIX. Page 9