EW YORK - The news from City Hall was that there was no news.
And so, for the hordes of reporters, the hordes of advisers whose paychecks are on the line, the hordes of Republican officeholders whose reelections are tied to his coattails, and the hordes of observers across the state - many with vested interests, more just curious - it was just another impatient day of waiting for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to make up his mind.
Will he dash all caution, setting aside worries about his prostate cancer, his shattered marriage, his affair with another woman, and continue his run for the US Senate against Hillary Rodham Clinton? Or will he decide the pressures are too great, the medical treatments too onerous, and pull out?
A record crowd of reporters and 21 TV cameras squeezed into the Blue Room at City Hall yesterday for the mayor's daily ''press availability.'' Aides had said earlier that nothing big would happen, but nobody was taking chances.
Giuliani walked into the room a little after noon, smiling and shaking his head. By the time he got to the podium, he burst out laughing, and said, ''I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have no major announcement to make today.''
He had a few bits of news. He would not be going to California for a fund-raiser. At the same time, a nationally televised town hall interview scheduled for Thursday night in Manhattan was, at least for the moment, still on. And he suggested he would make the big decision sometime this week, possibly as early as tomorrow.
He flatly denied a report in yesterday's Newsweek that he has decided to drop out of the Senate race and undergo an operation and then radiation treatment to wipe out his cancer. Those treatments, together, would take three months, longer than a Senate campaign could tolerate.
''The report in Newsweek is just absolutely false,'' he said yesterday. He insisted he has not yet decided on the course of treatment, and said until that question is settled, he would try not even to think about his political future.
Last week's disclosures about his personal life gave him less time than he thought he would have to consult with doctors. So, he added, ''I'm going to need to do that this week - tomorrow, the next day, I don't know, you can't put a time frame on this.''
Another remark suggested his decision will come in the next two days. Noting that he needs time for medical consultations, he said, ''Tomorrow and the next day, I will probably have a much-reduced schedule'' for work and campaigning.
He insisted that Republican leaders and fund-raising organizers were not pressuring him to hurry up. ''They're more patient than all of you are,'' he told the roomful of reporters, with a smile.
Still, it is well known that the state's Republicans are getting nervous, with opinion divided on whether it would be better for Giuliani to go ahead or withdraw. All, however, agree that a definite candidate is needed soon.
The Democratic Party is holding its state convention in Albany today, where Mrs. Clinton will be officially declared the candidate amid great fanfare. She was endorsed yesterday by a builders' union that usually endorses Republicans. The polls still show her running neck-and-neck with Giuliani, but with her numbers rising and the mayor's falling, especially in New York City and upstate. In the suburbs, the mayor still holds a commanding lead.
The state Republican Party holds its convention May 30.
