American Notes NEW YORK

Bonny Bess Myerson, beauty from the Bronx, seemed to have everything -- a Miss America crown (1945), big money and political clout. But last April she resigned her $83,000-a-year job as New York City's commissioner of cultural affairs because of what the papers called the "Bess mess." Her romance with Contractor Carl Capasso was a family-wrecking affair, upended when Capasso ran into the tax trouble that got him a four-year prison term. Worse still were charges that in 1983 Myerson gave a $19,000 job to the daughter of State Supreme Court Justice Hortense Gabel in order to induce the judge to reduce Capasso's alimony and child-support payments. Last week a federal grand jury indicted Myerson, Gabel and Capasso on counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and bribery. Myerson, 63, who was also charged with obstruction of justice, could receive 30 years and fines of $513,000. Capasso, 45, and Gabel, 74, could each face a 25-year term and $263,000 in fines.