THE CITY

With a come-from-behind plurality (though not a majority) of Fun City ballots under his belt, the very articulate Mayor John delivers a sober appraisal of where he and his city are at, the trials they've been through together and the tribulations to come. . . . But also a carefully measured optimism that you can indeed help some of the people some of the time and, with the proper (but as yet unobtainable) funds, make significant inroads on the urban morass. Lindsay's campaign commentary does not offer any notable new insights, but is marked by the same humility, humanity, and willingness to admit and learn from errors that won back many a straying voter. Other stresses in the book are also campaign carry-overs: reasurances that City Hall is sensitive to mainstream grievances, revindications of impromptu neighborhood strolls and community participation, and reassertions that what really hampers the police is archaic structures and technology. Then there's retrospectives, new perspectives, and ""A Day in the Life."" But the analytical sections on the roots and ramifications of the city's ills set forth Lindsay's primary plaint: that urban centers just aren't getting the lifeblood hard currency that they need. The city has always been ""a basically suspect institution,"" and when it comes to budget cuts, a quite expendable one. Fundamental changes are in order in relationships with state and federal government, as well as basic alterations in the method of government. The ""pervasive dilemmas"" of poverty, the welfare trap, and crime also are subjected to more minute dissection. Not the final word on urban problems, but some well-reasoned working concepts from an urbane working mayor.