December 7, 1998

Actor Adrien Brody's odyssey from Queens to Hollywood is testament not only to his raw talent and persistence, but also to indefinable ways careers can take shape in movie business, sometimes after years of perparation; Brody, 25, played one of coveted roles in The Thin Red Line, and had key roles in movies by Spike Lee and Barry Levinson; by 1999, he will have half-dozen movies in release; photos (M)

John Tierney's The Big City column attributes current New York-New Jersey border war over garbage to New Jersey's low self-esteem; says New Jersey's politicians should accept trash from New York gladly, using revenue from their landfills to lower property taxes and build new schools; notes that Virginians, who do not have image problem, pocket New York's trash money without suffering identity crisis (M)

Many Republican moderates in Congress from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are struggling to decide how to vote on year's biggest issue: impeachment of Pres Clinton; Northeast moderates, single largest group of swing voters in House, are coming under fierce pressure from both sides to take a stand; many of them represent districts where voters have supported Pres Clinton and oppose impeachment (M)

News analysis of election of James P Hoffa as Teamsters union president; while election has shown that teamsters are willing to re-embrace Hoffa name, whether rest of labor movement will do so as well remains open question; although his victory is publicly hailed by labor leaders, they, together with rank and file union members, recall his father's mob ties and fear he will allow corruption to flourish again, setting back entire labor movement; photo (M)

Inaugural Bowl Championship Series fulfills mission of bringing clear-cut title game to college football, matching undefeated Tennessee Volunteers and once-beaten Florida State Seminoles in Fiesta Bowl; Syracuse will play Florida in Orange Bowl, Wisconsin will play UCLA in Rose Bowl, and Ohio State will play Texas A&M in Sugar Bowl; college football coaches renew their cry for playoff system (M)