February 16, 1997

YOU seldom hear his voice or see him quoted. Leon Hess prefers it that way. In building his $650 million fortune as the commander of Amerada Hess Corporation, he once retained a personal public-relations man, the late Ben Sonenborn, to help keep his name out of the newspapers. ''My parents always told me,'' he often said, ''to guard your reputation.''

IN the prosaic parlance of officialdom, they are deadeningly designated: the J-51 Tax Exemption and Abatement Program and Section 421a of the New York State Real Property Tax Law. But for Henrietta Cohen, an 84-year-old widow, and Azizur Rahman, an emigre from Bangladesh, they are lifelines to a decent, affordable home. And for New York City, they are girders in a jerry-built framework for preserving and creating habitable housing through a system of tax incentives.

Shuttle Avoids Space Junk The shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble telescope out of the way of a fragment from an old rocket before astronauts resumed work. Page 16. Albright Begins World Tour Madeleine K. Albright began her first trip abroad as Secretary of State, embarking on a tour of nine states in Europe and Asia. Page 12. Success for Jewish Group A Jewish group is savoring success for its efforts to get action from the Swiss on the dormant accounts of Holocaust victims. Page 8. Champion on Ice at 14 Tara Lipinski is America's youngest figure skating champion. SportsSunday, section 8. (Some copies went to press before the event ended.)

Profiles of Drs Paul Krugman and Lester Thurow, professors of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who have vastly different opinions on phenomenon bedeviling not only the experts, but everyone else too: why has the resulting income gap become so glaring in last two decades while affluent minority has so visibly prospered; Krugman maintains that technology, not global competition, is principal cause of American income inequality; Thurow maintains that global economy, offering huge supply of low-wage foreign workers is main cause of income inequality in US; two men have become high-profile combatants in espousing their views, never face-to-face; both men are well paid for speaking on issue, with Krugman making $15,000 a speech and Thurow $30,000 a speech; photos of both men; outline of their positions and where they agree (L)

Floyd Norris (Market Watch) column discusses what is propelling stock market, namely cash infusions and expectations of more cash, from individuals across America; says Americans poured $24 billion into stock funds last month; graph (M)

Special report, The Eye On Prudential, examines criticisms of probe of Prudential Insurance Company of America by New Jersey regulators at company's request, following complaints by thousands of customers; at heart of criticism is question of whether home-state regulators went too far in protecting company, third-largest private employer in New Jersey, at expense of millions of policyholders; year-long inquiry by state-led team of examiners found widespread abuses by Prudential agents that management should have known of as early as 1992; fined company $35 million and ordered it to sign settlement to pay at least $410 million, and possibly $1 billion, to wronged policyholders; regulators in other states and lawyers for thousands of customers have challenged settlement; say fine amounts to little more than pittance for company with assets of $219 billion; cite fundamental flaws in task force inquiry; note: most customers who lost money may never get it back since settlement puts most of burden of proof on them; photos (L)

Artists in Hong Kong, working almost in defiance of social esthetic that prizes money above all else, are creating works rooted not in any grand Chinese tradition but in colony's peculiar circumstances and culture; are worried about China's impending takeover, fearing both censorship and pressures prevalent in China and fragility of indigent culture and art scene; photos (L)

Two turn-of-the-century Romanesque Revival neighbors on Pine Street -- the former Wallace Building (Nos. 56-58) and The Down Town Association (Nos. 60-64), a private luncheon club -- became designated landmarks last week. The action on the sites, between William and Pearl Streets, is part of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's ongoing efforts to step up landmark designations in Lower Manhattan. The former Wallace Building, a narrow, 12-story 1894 structure, was considered a skyscraper when Oswald Wirz, a Swiss-born architect, designed it for James G. Wallace, a builder who used it for his company's headquarters. Its facade includes decorative terra cotta with serpents and faces set within swirls of foliage.

Pres Clinton invokes Railway Labor Act of 1926, halting minutes-long strike by American Airlines pilots and shifting attention to special emergency board that will try to resolve dispute between airline management and pilots union within 60 days; cites severe disruption to both domestic and international air travel, especially on holiday weekend; American Airlines chief executive, Robert L Crandall, lauds decision, but pilots express unhappiness; pilots say action has undermined negotiating power; dispute goes to special emergency board, which must make nonbinding recommendation within 30 days; failure of both sides to reach agreement within 60 days could lead either to resumption of strike by pilots, or action by Congress extending cooling off period or mandating settlement; photo (M)

Constitutional amendment to require balanced Federal budget, core Republican issue for years, has strong suport among Americans when they are asked if they favor or oppose measure, but reframing poll question draws differing responses; 49 percent in recent New York Times/CBS News Poll say amendment is not the kind of issue for which they would change Constitution; table of responses (M)

The voice was weak at first. Raspy, breathy. Then as the conversation turned to basketball history, basketball lore, Roger Brown's voice became stronger, filled with authority and passion. After all these years, basketball is a sustaining life force. ''I'm glad I feel strong enough to talk,'' he said. ''I'll probably pay for it later on.'' Roger Brown represents so many little-known tributaries that flow into the National Basketball Association. Thirty years ago, he became a pillar of a fledgling league called the American Basketball Association.

List of articles on inside pages of City section