August 16, 1985

The Board of Estimate, rejecting the last-minute appeals of neighborhood residents, gave final city approval yesterday for construction of a garbage-burning incinerator at the old Brooklyn Navy Yard. The incinerator - the first of a network of up to 10 planned across the city at a cost of $2.5 billion - was approved by a 6-to-5 vote after more than five hours of testimony before the board. ''It is a major first step for us in solving our waste-disposal problems,'' Sanitation Commissioner Norman Steisel said moments after the vote. #3 Oppose Plan While all board members said they supported the idea of the incinerator, which would burn garbage to produce energy, City Council President Carol Bellamy, Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin and Borough President Howard Golden of Brooklyn voted against it. Miss Bellamy and Mr. Goldin have two votes; Mr. Golden has one.

''I am not prepared to lead white South Africans and other minority groups on a road to abdication and suicide.'' - President P. W. Botha of South Africa. [A1:6.]

The Economy Industrial production rose a slight 0.2 percent in July, providing little evidence of the second-half economic rebound predicted by the Reagan Administration and most private analysts. But economists found some consolation in the Federal Reserve report, since it showed at least some growth for the seventh straight month. [Page A1.] Americans took on $6.79 billion more in installment debt than they paid off in June, the smallest rise since November. [D2.] Defense Secretary Weinberger said he would support changes in the way the Pentagon buys weapons in order to restore public confidence in the military. Officials said that at a closed meeting he advocated a stricter review of new weapons before they are approved for full-scale development and tighter limits on specifications that make weapons more complex and expensive. [B4.]

A series of underground electrical fires erupted in lower Manhattan yesterday, blacking out a half-dozen office buildings and leading Mayor Koch, fearful of a larger power failure, to ask all businesses south of Canal Street to send home nonessential employees. The power interruptions - which affected thousands of office workers, stranding some of them in elevators -came in the middle of the hottest day of the year, as the temperature soared to 95 degrees and the demand for electricity reached a record level. Officials of the Consolidated Edison Company said the fires had almost certainly been caused in part by the high demand. And other utilities in the metropolitan area reported that their capacity had been stretched to its limits.

New York State taxpayers would save $588 million a year under President Reagan's tax-change plan, the State Comptroller said today. The finding by the Comptroller, Edward V. Regan, disagreed with earlier claims by Governor Cuomo that New Yorkers would lose $2 billion a year under the President's plan. But Mr, Regan stressed that even with the gain, the state would be ''badly hurt'' by the proposed changes. He said New Yorkers overall would save less than residents of any other state under the plan, and middle-income New Yorkers probably would have to pay higher Federal taxes.