November 24, 1993

Tom Rooney, an investment banker for Prudential Securities, was riding in a limousine uptown on Third Avenue for cocktails at Mortimer's the other night. A companion tapped his knee, and said, "I think there's someone at the door for you."

The New York City Police Department has banned the use of choke holds, the restraining maneuvers that cut off the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain and have been blamed in the deaths of suspects in New York and other cities. The directive comes as police departments around the country have prohibited or reviewed the use of various choke holds by officers. It also underscores a nationwide debate on the appropriate use of police force, from 9-millimeter handguns to "hogtying" to pepper spray.

The 103d Congress more or less ended a productive first session today, but on a note of ill will that made it clear that the legislative paralysis of recent years had been diminished but not vanquished. Many bills that President Bush had vetoed became law with the signature and backing of President Clinton. But party divisions were raw and obvious during the budget battle in the summer and clear again today as minor differences held up a popular gun control measure. Democrats sought to trap the Republicans into blocking it, or giving up ignominiously. [ Page A21. ]

LEFTOVER turkey is a ghoulish reminder on the morning after Thanksgiving. Roasted, dismembered and carved, remnants of big bird tweak the guilt of all who dare crack the refrigerator door. Therein lies evidence of abundance, testimony to overindulgence. Great are the protestations of all who possess an embarrassment of second-day turkey. Many claim to loathe it and say they can endure its presence and face its challenge only because leftover turkey is an unavoidable byproduct of Thanksgiving's behemoth sine qua non.

Schools Chancellor Ramon C. Cortines said yesterday that Board of Education officials have in recent years minimized the extent of violence in the New York City schools by restricting information about school-based crimes, and he vowed to change the practice. "It's time for a system like ours," Mr. Cortines said, "to share this information about the crisis of violence in our schools so that people can begin to devise a solution."

NEW YORK CITY CROSSROADS FOR COLISEUM? It has been nearly nine years since Mortimer B. Zuckerman won the right to replace the Coliseum, a building much maligned by architecture critics, with a gleaming new mixed-use complex on Columbus Circle. Today the Coliseum still stands, and the fate of the site, prime real estate near the southwest corner of Central Park, seems as uncertain as ever. B3. COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE IS COY Police Commissioner William J. Bratton of Boston, who less than two weeks ago said he was not interested in the job, indicated yesterday that he would consider an offer to become the commissioner of New York City's Police Department. The remarks by Mr. Bratton, who served as head of the city's transit police before he left in January to become the No. 2 police official in Boston, came as he emerged as a top contender for commissioner. B3.

Few companies would pass up a chance to wish away a big competitor. And apparently, the American aluminum industry is willing to do just that -- even if it means losing a big customer while they are at it. All five publicly traded producers of aluminum have seen their stocks move up in recent days, as much as 10.5 percent. Investors are anticipating that Western countries will coax reluctant aluminum producers from the Commonwealth of Independent States to curb production to help stem a world glut of the metal.

AMERICA'S most pleasingly plump, cheerfully chubby young actress is no longer living with euphemisms. When Ricki Lake made her movie debut almost six years ago in John Waters's "Hairspray," those were the kinds of phrases people used to describe her. Back then, while just 19 years old and 5 feet 4 inches tall, she weighed 200 pounds. Her role -- a sweet, overweight girl-next-door who lands a spot on a Baltimore television dance program -- won her a quick and early dose of fame.

JUST when we thought they'd been totally forgotten, they're back. Amy and Joey?

In Laura Gamb's high school mathematics and science classes last year, the boys would make fun of her if she said million when she meant billion, and she learned to deflect their ridicule by saying, "Just kidding," or "Never mind." In Amber West's middle school math class, she was so afraid of sounding stupid when she didn't understand something that she swallowed her questions, whispered them to a teacher between periods or waited until she got home and asked her mother.

When the Republic New York Corporation sheepishly announced late last Friday that it was withdrawing its hostile bid to acquire the Green Point Savings Bank, it put to an end -- at least for now -- one of the most curious episodes in the recent history of banking. Republic's groundbreaking attempt to thwart a planned initial public offering of stock by a mutual savings bank terrified the cloistered savings industry and infuriated the State Banking Superintendent, Derrick D. Cephas, who declared the bid "illegal."

The Clinton Administration today outlined a plan to create a single agency to regulate the entire banking industry, saying that dividing the job among four agencies no longer made sense. The four agencies were created over the last several decades in response to various changes in the banking industry. But the face of the financial industry has changed drastically in recent years, as banks and savings and loans have expanded the services they offer consumers, consolidated over state lines through mergers, and responded to increasing competition from nonbank companies.