What was going on when I was born?

Mayor Koch yesterday disputed figures indicating there are 36,000 homeless men and women in New York City and strongly attacked the state, asserting that it had failed to live up to its obligations to these people. ''We have done the best we can,'' the Mayor said, ''but it is time for New York State to reassume the burden it so cavalierly dumped on local governments when it stopped providing care for a substantial portion of the mentally ill population, care that has been the traditional responsibility of the state.'' In a sometimes heated hearing before a half-dozen state legislators, the Mayor also suggested that he would not necessarily consult with them before placing shelters for the homeless in their districts.

Darwin's islands adapt to a new species: tourists A2 House panel presses Reagan on Salvadoran elections A4 Opposition in Canada demurs at constitutional accord A5 Allen's Japanese friend plays a behind-the-scenes role A6 Reagan's missile offer is said to reflect Weinberger's stand A8 Around the World A10 Government/Politics Legislative-judicial conflict widening in Pennsylvania A15 Congress deadlocked on restoring Social Security benefit A24 Mayor Koch disagreed that there are 36,000 homeless in the city B1 Governor Carey offers a new as- sessment plan B2 Governor outlines budget plan to Connecticut legislature B2 Assemblyman urges separate subway and rail authorities B3 Witness tells why he made pay- ments as directed by Margiotta B4 Washington Talk Briefing A28 Conference is where Congress does work that counts in the end A28 Saudi ambassador and wife have distinctive style in capital A28 General Around the Nation A14 Moon sect follower ponders Cali- fornia court order A14 Harvard to name panel to consult on sociology tenure A16 Court asked to reverse Mrs. Har- ris's murder conviction A36 Seven persons were indicted in Rockland robbery and shootout B3 Industry/Labor A.F.L.-C.I.O. delegates urge air controllers' return A20 International labor group faults U.S. flight controllers A20 Weekend Weekender Guide C1 Walking tour of hidden pleasures of Riverdale in the Bronx C1 Theater: Broadway C2 Katharine Hepburn shines in ''The West Side Waltz'' C5 ''Mozartiana'' returns to City Ballet repertory C4 Screen: ''They All Laughed'' opens C6 ''Ragtime'' is reviewed C10 At the Movies C10 ''The Hungarians,'' from Zol- tan Fabri C14 Bugs Bunny special opens C18 Music: New Ballroom opens with Clooney and Whiting C5 Wall-to-wall Beethoven at Sym- phony Space C9 Art: Islamic show at Met Mu- seum C1 Buffalo Bill exhibition at Brooklyn Museum C1 Jim Dine paintings at Pace Gal- lery C26 Auctions C30 Books: Publishing C36 ''Poems and Sketches of E.B. White reviewed C33 ''Boccaccio'' by Thomas G. Bergin reviewed C32 Restaurants C22 TV Weekend C36 Health/Science Adverse reactions reported for some taking flu shots A31 Style The evening hours A32 200 contributors tour a refur- bished White House A32 Eating out: Their way of life A32 Obituaries Jack Frizzelle, publicity man- ager at Metropolitan Museum A30 Sports Lakers dismiss Westhead as coach B5 Holzman shakes up lineup, then Knicks lose fourth straight B5 Todd, listed as doubtful, works out and feels he can play B5 Joe Frazier makes a comeback only he wants to happen B5 Red Smith on apartheid's step- child B7 Features/Notes Notes on People B4 Sports People B8 News Analysis Adam Clymer on political rami- fication of labor convention A21 Michael Goodwin on decline of S.R.O. hotel B1 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A34 What Taiwan wants Correcting the Council, cont. Privacy in public Hugh Price: Bronx beacon Letters A34 Tom Wicker: getting a start on START A35 Flora Lewis: a spook's buck is a buck A35 Roy M. Cohn: run Stockman out of town on a rail A35 Robert B. Reich: high-tech ri- valry A35

An article in The Living Section on Wednesday about where to buy a take- home turkey dinner gave an incorrect telephone number for the Market Din- ing Rooms at the World Trade Center. The number is 775-0582.

Senior White House aides, concerned that they do not have full information about the activities of Richard V. Allen, have ordered Mr. Allen to review his office records on his contacts with Japanese businessmen while serving as President Reagan's national security adviser, according to an Administration official. Justice Department sources, meanwhile, said the officials investigating the $1,000 payment Mr. Allen received from a Japanese magazine had been told by one of his secretaries that she had failed to follow his instructions on how to dispose of the money. The sources said the investigation showed that Mr. Allen had instructed the secretary, who was not identified, to turn the money over to the Government. But they added that she told investigators that after putting the money in an office safe, she forgot about it.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted today to suspend the license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo, Calif. The license permitting the plant to load fuel and conduct low-power testing will remain suspended until the plant passes a series of seismic tests. A number of design errors related to earthquake safety have been discovered at the plant, which is near an offshore geological fault. The commission's chairman, Nunzio J. Palladino, called the action a ''strong stand'' and a ''strong sign that the commission doesn't like what it's seen.''

''We are not going to compel children who don't choose to have an integrated education to have one.'' - William Bradford Reynolds, Assistant Attorney General for civil rights. (A14:1.)

Santa Claus will fly over the stage in his sleigh at Radio City Music Hall tonight - just one of many spectacles in that traditional season opener, ''The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular.'' Other events will include the arrival of Scrooge in a horse-drawn carriage; ''The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,'' danced by the Rockettes; part of ''The Nutcracker'' ballet, and a ''living nativity'' scene, complete with donkeys, sheep, llamas and Henry the camel. The show gets under way at 7:30 and runs through Jan. 3. Tickets are $14.75 for reserved seats, and $11.75 for general admission. Information: 757-3100. Ticketron: 977-9020. Chargit: 944-9300. JOFFREY SILVER JUBILEE If you were born or married in 1956 - the year the Joffrey Ballet made its debut - you are invited to dance with members of the company after attending the Joffrey's 8 P.M. performances this weekend - the last of the season - at the City Center, 135 West 55th Street. The 25-year-olds get to join the dancers tonight at the Copacabana, 10 East 60th Street. Silver-anniversary couples can join them tomorrow at the disco New York-New York, 33 West 52d Street. (A disco teacher will also be on hand). Tickets to each performance and celebration are $25 a person. Information: 265-7300.

Patrick Kelly, a 28-year-old electrician, was laid off a few months ago when the houses he was working on were completed. Now his days consist of visits to the corner of Davis and Conway Streets, in a Roman Catholic part of Belfast, where the unemployment office is protected from terrorists by an assemblage of wire mesh. ''There just isn't any more work around here to do,'' Mr. Kelly said the other day. ''More than half my friends are without jobs.'' Beset by sectarian troubles for more than a decade, the British province of Northern Ireland has also faced mounting economic difficulties that both result from the strife and help aggravate it. A particularly harsh economic reality in Northern Ireland is its unemployment rate of 19.5 percent.

CBS will increase its national evening newscast from 30 minutes to at least 45 minutes and more likely a full hour by March 1983, top CBS executives said yesterday. The action would be the first increase in the length of a national evening-news program by any of the three networks since 1963, when CBS led the way and expanded its program to 30 minutes from 15. NBC and ABC followed the CBS lead. The decision, announced yesterday, was made after three days of intensive meetings in Hawaii between CBS executives and representatives of its affiliated stations. The announcement came after several years of efforts by the three networks to persuade their affiliates to accept an expanded national program. Many affiliates already broadcast local news programs that run up to an hour or more in addition to the national network programs.

With success almost in their hands, three wealthy Arab investors were spurned once again yesterday in their four-year quest to obtain control of Financial General Bankshares Inc., a multistate bank holding company. This time it was the New York State Banking Board that turned down Middle Eastern Investors, as the three participants call themselves, by denying an application by the investors to take control of two New York banks that are owned by Financial General. The effect was to squash the deal - at least for the time being. The two banks are the Bank of Commerce in New York and the Community State Bank in Albany. ''It is the opinion of the Middle Eastern Investors that the record facts in the case and the controlling legal standards clearly establish that the application should be approved,'' said a statement issued late yesterday by the group.

BUFFALO BILL has returned to Brooklyn, that maverick borough where, some may be surprised to learn, he's ridden several times before. The legendary frontiersman and his traveling ''Wild West'' troupe visited Brooklyn around the turn of the century, setting up camp at, among other sites, Ambrose Park (now the Brooklyn Navy Terminal), where they performed their remarkable feats of horsemanship to capacity crowds. And tomorrow (and through Jan. 17), ''Buffalo Bill and the Wild West,'' a big show of memorabilia, posters, paintings and sculpture relating to Col. William F. Cody - as he was formally known - will open at the Brooklyn Museum. It's a show that should absolutely stampede kiddies of all ages, with a big-league stuffed buffalo on view in the museum's fifth-floor rotunda; Cody's pearl-handled six-shooter, his Bowie knife and the buckskins he wore; a walloping Indian war bonnet; a roundup of art works in which cowboys and Indians cavort, and even a group of dime novels inspired by the Cody legend. ''It's not a show about the real West, but the myth of the West that fed America,'' explains Michael Botwinick, the museum's director. ''And to the extent that the myth teaches us about courage, loyalty, independence, self-reliance, perseverance and the majesty of this land, we should cherish it.''

An agreement for U.S. Steel to acquire Marathon Oil for about $6.3 billion was announced by the two companies. The dramatic new step in Marathon's effort to fend off a takeover by Mobil would, if consumated, create the nation's 13th-largest industrial concern. The takeover would be the second-largest ever, surpassed only by Du Pont's $7.3 billion purchase of Conoco. More than 1.5 million Marathon shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's stock soared $27.25, closing at $104.25. (Page A1.) Serious questions about the U.S. Steel-Marathon agreement were raised both in Congress and at the Commerce Department. (D4.) Analysts said the proposed merger was another indication that the steel industry was increasingly looking beyond the bounds of its traditional business for growth. (D4.) The U.S. Steel bid consists of a combination of cash and notes that would be offered for the 60 million outstanding shares of Marathon stock. (D5.)