In 1988, Dr. Joseph, then the city's Health Commissioner, reduced by half his estimate of the number of city residents infected by the virus. While Dr. Joseph accompanied his study with the warning that no one should think it ''in any way reduces the services needed,'' Act-Up members accused him of a plot to accomplish that and other nefarious purposes. They splashed paint and posters on his house, occupied his office and called him a Nazi.
While no one really knows how many New Yorkers carry the virus, a panel of outside experts found the Commissioner's estimates to be ''in the ball park.''
In becoming ''too aggressive, too closed minded, as they sometimes are,'' Dr. Joseph said, ''you become the very thing you're fighting against, which is intolerance.''
