By N. R. KLEINFIELD

The convictions in the World Trade Center bombing trial elicited jubilation and relief throughout New York City yesterday, though there was also righteous anger among some Arabs. But many who were bruised by the traumatic event were certain that no verdict by a jury or punishment by a judge will exorcise the pain and terror that remain.

"I got really nervous when I heard that a verdict had been reached, and then when I heard it, I just said loudly, 'Yes!' " said Jo Ann Hilton, a secretary with the Port Authority police whose chair fell through the basement floor of the trade center after the explosion. "Oh, my, am I relieved. Maybe we can put this horror behind us now."

Vito DeLeo, a trade center mechanic who has grudgingly worn a hearing aid since the explosion, had been obsessed with the trial, spending much of his free time at court sessions and he papered the walls of his office with clippings about the case. He was ecstatic yesterday and was hurrying to pick up his wife to have a vodka on the rocks in celebration.

"I had chills coming down my body when I heard it," he said. "For my colleagues who are deceased, 'We can't bring you back, but I hope now that your souls will rest in peace.' "

'Never Surrender'

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani declared that the verdict "demonstrates that New Yorkers won't meet violence with violence, but with a far greater weapon -- the law." Gov. Mario M. Cuomo also applauded the convictions, and said, "The message coming out of this terrible episode is clear: New York will never surrender to terrorism."

All four defendants in the five-month trial -- Mohammed A. Salameh, Nidal A. Ayyad, Mahmud Abouhalima and Ahmad M. Ajaj -- were convicted on all counts. The totality of the verdict surprised quite a few people, who said they were expecting at least Mr. Ajaj, who was in jail on a passport conviction at the time of the blast, to be acquitted.

"I was expecting them to find some loophole and get acquitted," said Erin Armstrong, a New York money trader who was going to toast the verdict with a couple of beers.

"I'm tickled pink," said Floyd Edwards, a trade center mechanic who has been searching in vain for work in Alabama since the bombing. "That's some of the best news I've heard in a while. I was a little worried there because I wasn't sure they had a rock-solid case."

Tough Sentences Urged

The defendants face the possibility of life in prison without parole, and Mr. Edwards echoed hopes that they receive the maximum sentence. "I'm not a vindictive person," he said, "but I hope they don't see daylight ever again. That wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit."

Others felt stronger. "A lot of the guys down here wanted a death penalty," Mr. DeLeo said. "Personally, I would love to see a public hanging."

Reaction among Arabs was varied. At the Al-Salam mosque in Jersey City, where some of the convicted men worshiped, few people would discuss the verdict. But Hamdy Orabi, the mosque's president, denounced the verdict as a "miscarriage of the American justice system." He added: "We really expected those guys to be freed and acquitted. The lawyers proved over and over again that there was a conspiracy against those guys."

Several other worshipers said only that if the men were guilty they should have been convicted.

An Egyptian cabdriver in Midwood, Brooklyn, who would identify himself only as Mahmoud, criticized the verdict as unjust. "The jurors don't know Muslims," he said. "How can they be fair? They see people in beards praying and they get scared."

At the Abu Bakr mosque in Brooklyn where some of the defendants visited, Ahmed Sattar, a spokesman, said, "There was a clear injustice." He blamed "anti-Muslim feeling and the bad publicity."

"The Government shouldn't be proud, because it presented a weak case," he said. "It was clear they had a weak case. One person was in jail when the bombing took place. This is perfect example to show that jurors did not look at evidence."

For most people, the verdict provided gratification. It did not necessarily bring closure. Many victims of the bombing have boiled with anger and a new dimension of terror ever since the otherworldly day just over a year ago, and the verdict did not totally dissipate that anger.

Anthony Ricci, a parking lot attendant whose booth was blown up by the bomb and who now works as a porter in the Port Authority cafeteria at the trade center, said of the verdict, "I think it's great, just great." But he continues to be tormented by anxiety spells and pain from the blast and did not find peace in the news. "It definitely doesn't end for me," he said. "Because I have to live with this every day, no matter what happens to those guys."

Lingering Pain

Denise Bosco, a Port Authority office assistant who walked down from the 82d floor on the day of the blast, said, "Justice was served. I'm happy for that." But she remains jumpy at loud noises. "The verdict doesn't really change how I feel because I still feel scared at times. I hope that eventually goes away because I don't like living like this."

Stanley Brezenoff, the executive director of the Port Authority, felt mixed emotions, too. "I'm really gratified, but it's tempered by the pain I still feel for the families of those who died. It doesn't make up for the pain."

Anna DiGiovanni, the 81-year-old mother of John DiGiovanni, a dental products salesman who was one of the six people killed in the blast, has remained a virtual recluse since the explosion. Her son lived with her in Valley Stream, L.I. A Port Authority official who spoke with her yesterday said that she said: "God bless the prosecutor. God bless the jury. Justice has been served. God bless each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart."

'These Guys Were Pawns'

Questions still ripple through many minds: Why did they do it? Who else was involved?

"I'm happy with the verdict, but I think the masterminds are still out there," said Michael Rapp, an architectural consultant badly injured in the blast. "I think these guys were the pawns."

Still, throughout the city, the verdict touched off impromptu celebrations. The offices of the Port Authority police on the concourse level of the World Trade Center were reduced to a fraternity house atmosphere as word of the verdict circulated. People were digging into cake, because a longtime officer was retiring yesterday, when the news elevated the party to a noisier pitch.

"We're being boisterous and a little juvenile," Sgt. Dan Carbonaro said. "We're slapping each other and kidding around."

Donna Heussler, who worked at the trade center and walked down 70 flights while three months pregnant, said she had been unable to return to the building. She wept.

"I was happy, but it also made me sad," she said. "It brought back what I had to go through. I hope that they rot in jail for a long time, because I could never, ever forgive them."

Copyright 1994 The New York Times Company