What was going on when I was born?

Six real-estate companies were named yesterday to develop housing in Battery Park City that would reject the uniformity of other large projects and reflect the diversity of Manhattan neighborhoods. The companies were named by the Battery Park City Authority, which is under the auspices of the New York State Urban Development Corporation. The authority plans to have the concerns begin construction early next year on 1,809 units of housing. The project is expected to have a major impact on the lower Manhattan skyline. The housing will be built according to urban-design guidelines that require it to contain a mix of town houses, low-rise apartment buildings and high-rise towers, organized around a central park and a series of streets resembling those of the rest of Manhattan.

President Reagan today began a review of proposals aimed at achieving at least the $75 billion in additional budget cuts that his advisers said would be necessary to eliminate the Federal budget deficit by 1984. The proposed cuts, which were discussed at a three-hour meeting with David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan, would be more than twice the amount approved by Congress and signed into law by Mr. Reagan this summer. The meeting was held at the Century Plaza Hotel here, where Mr. Reagan is staying this week before returning to his ranch in Santa Barbara. The Associated Press quoted Administration sources today as saying that Mr. Reagan's economic advisers were recommending that he cut military spending $10 billion to $20 billion a year, Asked about this, Larry Speakes, deputy White House press secretary, said that Mr. Stockman had made proposals for ''savings'' in military spending through management improvement and other steps. But Mr. Speakes said the Administration remained committed to increasing military spending 7 percent a year after inflation ''in the next several years.''

Two Federal agencies said today that they had begun studies of whether the air controllers' strike had impaired safety. The announcements were made by the Federal Aviation Administration and by the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent Federal agency. They came amid a growing safety debate between officials of the controllers' union and the Government. This afternoon, Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis, whose department includes the F.A.A., held a news conference with J. Lynn Helms, head of the aviation agency. As in the past, they said that safety was their paramount concern and that they would order flights cut back further if necessary to maintain safety.

Saving for retirement will be more attractive financially for many individuals under the new tax law. The rules are so beneficial, tax experts say, that virtually everyone with any kind of wage or salary income should be thinking of establishing a tax-exempt retirement account, even though the new provisions do not take effect until Jan. 1. ''Here you've got the simplest, safest tax shelter you could have,'' Herbert Paul, associate national tax director for Touche Ross & Company, said in an interview recently. ''This is a gift that everybody ought to take advantage of.'' In a sweeping expansion of the eligibility requirements for retirement savings accounts, the new tax law permits people who are already covered by qualified pension plans to establish Individual Retirement Accounts as well. A Significant Change ''Letting everyone have a retirement account is probably the most significant change in the law,'' said William M. Tartikoff, assistant counsel for the Investment Company Institute, a trade association for the mutual fund industry.

James Dixon York, accused of fatally shooting one New York City police officer and wounding another, waived extradition yesterday in Sumter, S.C. He was captured there Monday evening a week after the New York police received a tip on his whereabouts. Mr. York and another suspect in the case, Anthony LaBorde, who remains at large, were indicted in absentia in June for the April 16 shooting on a quiet Queens street of two officers from the 113th Precinct in St. Albans. The attackers, whose van had been stopped for a routine check, fired a fusillade of 30 bullets into the officers' patrol car without warning and fled.

Costa Ricans up in arms over Mrs. Kirkpatrick A2 Israeli policy toward West Bank to ease, but doubts remain A3 Around the World A5 Pakistan and Afghanistan said to move closer to negotiations A7 Arthur A. Hartman is named U.S. Ambassador to Soviet Union A8 Canadian commission proposes curbs on press monopolies A11 Portuguese air traffic controllers seek to widen boycott A14 Government/Politics G.A.O. report urges stringent in- spection of slaughter plants A12 Atomic agency finds plant opera- tors swamped by its rules A13 Court overturns ruling against ''head shop'' law B2 7 hospital officials transferred or dismissed in New York B8 General Around the Nation A12 Atlanta's businesswomen finally have a home A12 Glacier park getting tougher with grizzly bears A12 Air traffic controller backed in collision A14 Indian family wins delay on deportation A16 Passersby save unborn baby's life after crash A18 The Region B2 Coast Guard recommendations on boating safety B3 Coast Guard hearing into L.I. cabin cruiser sinking begins B3 The City B4 27 persons are charged with fraudulent sales of a rare metal B4 Belmore Cafeteria being sold to make way for condominium B4 Living Section Food Time is ripe for tomatoes C1 Briton's pocket guide to dining in out-of-the-way France C1 When dining out was hardly sumptuous C1 Kitchen Equipment C2 The true confessions of a vin- compoop C3 60-Minute Gourmet C3 A new restaurant at school for chefs C4 Quenching the varied thirsts of summer C6 Best Buys C11 Wine Talk: A promising New York winery struggles back C13 Living Metropolitan Diary C2 Discoveries C8 Personal Health: Understand- ing medical tests C10 California group tries to revive civility and consideration C12 Confronting a taboo subject in Japan C14 New Yorkers, etc. C14 Health/Science Poll finds most Americans favor U.S. space program A20 Obituaries Stanislaw Walesa, stepfather of Polish labor leader A6 Arts/Entertainment Rampal is conductor and soloist at Mostly Mozart C16 Boston museum sending show of American art to China C16 Sidney Lumet's film ''Prince of the City'' opens C17 Rex Harrison leads revival of ''My Fair Lady'' C17 Professor Longhair's music con- tinues to be popular C18 The Pop Life C18 ''Fistful of Sugar,'' about Sugar Ray Leonard, is reviewed C21 Ross Claiborne leaves Dell to join Warner Books C21 Barton Mumaw, modern-dance pioneer, revisits Jacob's Pillow C21 ''Irene,'' a situation-comedy pilot, on NBC-TV tonight C23 Sports Guidry and Frazier stop White Sox as Yanks win, 4-0 B5 Kingman clouts 2 as Mets down Braves, 4-0 B5 Blount among 10 dropped by Giants B5 At Saratoga, betting is the big fea- ture B5 Eagles place Bergey on injured reserve list B7 Red Smith gives thanks to La- Russa B7 Seaver outpitches Carlton as Reds beat Phils, 3-1 B7 N.A.S.L. decides to have indoor season B7 Eastern Rugby Union received $25,000 from South African B8 Features/Notes About New York B4 Going Out Guide C15 Notes on People C24 News Analysis Bernard Gwertzman examines decision to lift Israeli plane ban A3 Stuart Taylor Jr. on efforts to de- stroy the controllers' union A14 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A22 Unformulated Mideast policy To contain the Medfly The Biltmore fades away Letters A22 Toby Cohen: President Reagan's New Deal A23 Roy C. Macridis: the brewing storm in Greece A23 John E. Fobes: Unesco and world communications A23 Emil Lengyel: a village view of the world A23

A printers' strike called by the Solidarity labor union closed or disrupted most Polish newspapers today, an extraordinary action against the state-controlled press in the Soviet bloc. The independent union said the strike would last two days. It protests what the union considers a press offensive against it, and demands expanded and regular access to the state-run television, radio and press. The job action appears to have met with the acquiescence or tacit support of some journalists and the hostility of others. At a news conference here, union leaders accused the Government of printing strike papers in military publishing houses. They appealed to train, truck and bus operators not to transport them, to vendors not to sell them, and to readers not to read them.

The subway car was packed and steamy, and the straphangers seemed about to slip into stupor. Suddenly a loud voice shattered the general torpor. ''Hello, I'm Jim Smith and I'm running for Mayor against Ed Koch,'' the tall, bespectacled man boomed. ''Have any of you folks heard of me?''

International A printers' strike swept Poland, closing or disrupting the publication of most newspapers in the first labor action of its kind in the Soviet bloc. The walkout, which the independent union said would last two days, was called to protest what it says is a press offensive against it and to demand increased access for the union to the state-run media. (Page A1, Column 1.) Canada's Liberals were rebuffed in two by-elections. In one, the chief political aide of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was trounced in what had been regarded as the Liberals' safest district in the country. (A10:1-3.)

The sagging United States housing industry revived slightly in July, with housing starts rising 3.3 percent, to 1.06 million units, after falling more than 10 percent in each of the previous two months, the Commerce Department reported today. But permits for future construction fell 4 percent in July compared with Personal income rose 1.6 percent in July, the largest gain in a year, and there was a 1.2 percent increase in personal spending. Page D7.

The International Monetary Fund will send a representative to a meeting in Paris next month between the Polish Government and its Western creditors, heightening speculation that Poland will seek membership in the 141-nation lending agency as a means of dealing with its mounting financial problems. A high-ranking Reagan Administration economic official said that the invitation to attend the Sept. 9 meeting - being held to sign an agreement between Poland and 460 Western banks to extend the deadline on more than $5 billion of Polish debts - had been tendered by the Government in Warsaw. The American official said that the United States, West Germany, Britain and France were actively supporting Polish membership. That could open the door to a loan by the fund to Poland under conditions, applied uniformly to all fund debtors, that it improve its economic and balance-of-payments positions.

Threatened with a Japanese embargo that could cost California farmers millions of dollars, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. warned the Japanese Ambassador today that such a ban could result in retaliation by the State Legislature against Japanese imports. The Governor's concern came in response to a request from the Japanese late yesterday to the United States Department of Agriculture to stop shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables from California into Japan. The request cited a spreading infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly, which destroys crops. In Washington, William P. Clark, the Deputy Secretary of State, met with Japanese officials to try to head off import restrictions. (Page A15.)