December 22, 1991

FOR the Giants, mercifully, a disastrous season is over. For the Jets, mathematically, a playoff season is still attainable. And in the confusion, their quarterbacks are together again. Only five years ago, the favorite question for New York pro football fans was: Who's better, Simms or O'Brien? Then the Giants defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI as Simms completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns after O'Brien couldn't generate much offense as the Jets lost their last five games that season. The question had been answered. It hasn't been asked since.

IT IS NOT only the Soviet Union that evaporated in 1991. So too did the concept of economic cooperation among the leading Western economies. That became clearer than ever last week, as the German central bank turned its back on the interests of most of Europe, let alone the United States, and jacked up interest rates. The Bundesbank's surprisingly strong move left its discount rate at 8 percent, or more than double the 3.5 percent rate that this country's Federal Reserve adopted as it cut its rate by a point on Friday.

Single-room-occupancy housing is most often associated with grim hotel living. But in the spring New York City will break ground for an $18 million S.R.O. residence that is expected to enhance life for 200 homeless adults. The residence, being developed by the Department of General Services and the Human Resources Administration, will go up at 1075 Webster Avenue in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.

EDGAR A. POE Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. By Kenneth Silverman. Illustrated. 564 pp. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. $27.50.

The big man in red was almost jolly. The little guy in the sweater was looking for something positive in his disappointment. Indiana's Hoosiers are still committing far too many mistakes to please Bob Knight, which is to say any. But as conference play approaches and the Hoosiers try to find positive answers -- Or Else -- their resourcefulness cannot be underestimated.