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Party Conventions a Study in ContrastsThe New York State Republican and Democratic Party conventions are over andf ro m th p n u h l ir %u2019i! n o in t n f v ip w th p turn th p n n h lip n rp c p n tp H h n th n n litip a l anHideological extremes.Governor Cuomo%u2019s domination of his state party couldn%u2019t have been firmer and the love-feast delivered up a state-wide party ticket that may be the strongest the Democrats have offered in generations. At the other extreme, the disarray of the Republicans couldn%u2019t have been greater. It must have made GOP old-timers long for the days of Nelson Rockefeller and public spectacles that also had a political punch.The waltz over the nomination of their Lt. Governor candidate was a sure tip-off of two things about the Republican Party in New York State. One is the lack of seriousness with which it and its top candidate are pursuing the fall election, protestations to the contrary. The other is that some people still haven%u2019t learned much about how the public feels these days about personal financial disclosure in politics. It seems hard to believe that in 1986 political leaders and the party that is sponsoring them, people with at least elemental common sense, would consider a prospective candidate for a major public office only to face an humilating public withdrawal over the issue of disclosure. It says something pretty embarrasing about the state of the Republican Party in New York state, we think.As they pi epai c foi the pi iinai y auu general eiecLiun season to come, the major issue this year for both parties seems to be the Cuomo Factor, the future of New York State%u2019s governor. Largely unspoken, it nevertheless is a subject that is never far from any conversation about politics in New York City and state these days. Though no one seems to know what to make of it %u2014 even the Republicans are having a hard time using it against him so far %u2014 it%u2019s out there on the table as this campaign gets underway.The Cuomo Factor in New York state this year just goes to prove, once again, how unpredictable the science of politics really is. This man who can aspire to the presidency wasn%u2019t even given a fighting chance of holding any public office at this time four years ago. As we enter the month of patriotic hoopla leading up to the July Fourth extravaganza in New York Harbor, it%u2019s a real object lesson in the American Dream %u2014 and the dream lives no where so strongly as it does in the field of American politics.%u00a7 ou nd FEEDBACK FROM READERSkeep this shelter%u2019s population capped at 70.The committee is working hard to restore the pre-shelter quality of life on streets near the shelter, to make the shelter a productive springboard for those residents who want education or jobs, and to oversee the running of the shelter itself. We are supported by CB6, our local elected officials, and the local police. We are undaunted by HRA%u2019s cumbersome bureaucracy.I am much encouraged by the degree of unity that has come out of our diversity, and by the veins of support that we have already tapped in the community. I think that the committee can reach its goals of seeing that the shelter runs as a humane, helpful place and also of removing from our streets (and from Prospect Park) men who are aggressively panhandling, drunk, verbally abusive, or otherwise menacing. HRA happened to set this shelter down in a community that has both a lot of heart and a strong determination to hang on to what it%u2019s built up. The shelter in the armory isn%u2019t as small as many think shelters should be, but at 70 beds, it%u2019s still of a size that can work.But I don%u2019t think the committee has a chance of being anything more than a militant, hostile watchdog if the state moves more of the National Guard out of the armory and lets the city move more homeless in. If HRA moves 400 or even just 200 homeless into this shelter%u2014and it has moved the homeless in by the hundreds in other committees%u2014we won%u2019t have a shelter we can work with. We%u2019ll have a holding pen for human beings, with a lot of other angry, unhappy human beings living all around.You have always struck me as a rare combination of a man of politics and a man of principles. I do not think that you would put expediency before decency, or political interests before moral sensibilities. And so I am appealing to you.Please help us. Cap the shelter%u2019s population at 70. Help us preserve the community we cherish, and give us a chance to help make this shelter something meaningful for at least some of its residents. Let us make it a watershed, not a way of life.%u2014Kathy Guthmuller, 420 Seventh Street, Member, 14th Street Armory Shelter Advisory Committee.Worm to The PhoenixYour special Downtown Real Estate Section of May 29, 1986 was made even more special by the excellent photography of Kathryn Kirk and Liz Koch. I was at the Pierrepont Office groundbreaking and, as an eyewitness to the event, can say that they captured the spirit of this happy civic ceremony (and even the spirited encounter demonstration) in their photographs. Brava!By the way, the picture of the Mayor on page 42 of the same issue showing him rubbing his eyes, probably indicates his embarrassment in making a colossal blunder. He stated that there has been no office construction in Downtown Brooklyn in 25 years. Wrong. Fifteen years ago saw the completion of the Con Edison, Telephone Company and 111 Livingston Street buildings. Downtown Brooklyn has been dormant%u2014but not for as long as the Mayor thinks. A worm to the Phoenix for not catching the Mayor%u2019s mistake.%u2014Michael Strasser, ExecutiveDirector, Fulton Mall Improvement Association, 409 Fulton Street.A Lack of SensitivityThis letter is in response to your May 15th review entitled %u201cDanceAfrica An Eclectic Mix of Ethnic Charm and Skill,%u201d a review of the Brooklyn Academy of Music production of DANCE AFRICA %u201986 on May 10 and 11, 1986.As producer of this event for BAM I feel compelled to respond on behalf of the dancecompanies who performed, and as a black resident of Brooklyn, I feel equally compelled to take note of the apparent lack of sensitivity, knowledge or understanding of African dance or African culture displayed by the reviewer.During my tenure at BAM, I have found your coverage of arts events reflective of a high level of professionalism and indicative of a sincere effort toward objective, incisive and informative communication. However, I was stunned by the inarticulate, superficial and uninformed attitude displayed in your reviewer%u2019s description of DanceAfrica. For example, the description of The Calabash Dance Theatre%u2019s re-creation of the %u201cWomen%u2019s Dance,%u201d a tremendously intricate series of unison movements of historical African importance was related as %u201cThe Women of Calabash Dance Theater stuck their knees out and the movements were more spastic with arms and legs going in all directions%u201d is at best a demeaning interpretation.The Odadaa! International Dance Company, which is comprised solely of native Ghanians, and led by world renowned master percussionist Yacub Addy, performed in authentic, traditional costumes which were described by your reviewer as %u201cBroadway.%u201dIn Africa, as in many other geographic locations and cultures there are ceremonial aspects of deep meaning and tradition, which serve to import historic significance to both the participants and the audience. Your reviewer%u2019s comment regarding the traditional Libation Ceremony which preceded each performance as %u201cwith most native events certain ceremonies had to be performed%u201d and a further statement that %u201csurely something more interesting could have beendevised%u201d demonstrates little understanding of the integral role of ceremony in any culture, and to be described as a %u201cnative event%u201d evokes an image of colonial era condescension that I find repugnant.These few examples are sufficient to underscore my reaction to this article. But more importantly, I was astonished such a poorly constructed piece to be published in a major Brooklyn publication that has worked diligently to create a reputation for informed, knowledgeable journalism.Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of DanceAfrica %u2014 a major contributor to the cultural life of all residents of Brooklyn, both black and white. Your review is a disappointment and a disservice to the artists who performed %u2014 and to the more than 4,000 members of the community who attended. %u2014 Jeff Anthony, Brooklyn Academy of Music.Please Help Us, MarioFollowing is a letter sent on May 23 to Governor Mario Cuomo about the installation of a shelter for homeless men in the New York State National Guard Armory on Eighth Avenue in Park Slope.Dear Governor Cuomo:I live near the Park Slope armory, in which the city%u2019s Human Resources Administration opened a 70-bed shelter for homeless men in mid-March. I am a member of the 14th Street Armory Shelter Advisory Committee, organized by Community Board 6 soon after the shelter opened, but I do not represent the committee in this letter. I write simply out of concern, and I implore you: please, please$ I G N O F TH E J h f E SHave Been ForewarnedAfter the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, one could expect that the decision to homeport a nuclear-equipped Navy fleet in New York Harbor would be reviewed, at the very least. After all, to this very day the Navy has never demonstrated how it would handle a worst case ruclear accident that could spread deadly plutonium fumes over this most densely populated area in the country.As if this were not enough, there was a shocking revelation on NBC Nightly News that at ieast $370 million of the cost of the proposed Navy port would go to organized crime. This was confirmed by Edward McDonald, head of the federal Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn.We have been forewarned! Our homeporting a nuclear-equipped fleet could threaten not only our safety, but our economic health. Our precious national and City resources should be used instead for jobs that will build homes to end the disgraceful Reagan-created problem of homelessness; that wiil end growing hunger, crime and deterioration of our City%u2019s subway system. There is still time to let our congressmen know our view.%u2014Alice Gordon, Brooklyn