May 23, 1990

LEAD: The Bush Administration's plans to buy costly new long-range nuclear weapons are being challenged by a growing number of military experts and members of Congress. They say the country has a chance to save tens of billions of dollars by slowing the purchases and seeking an agreement with the Soviet Union to reduce nuclear arsenals drastically.

LEAD: U.N. Moves to Hear Arafat The Security Council agreed to meet in Geneva to hear Yasir Arafat speak, sparing the Bush Administration a decision on his entry. Page A7. Airline Safety for Infants The National Transportation Safety Board urged the Government to require that infants sit in safety seats during airline flights.

LEAD: Moving to take advantage of Brazil's plan to sell state-owned companies to private investors, Midland Bank P.L.C. is setting up a $1.5 billion fund of Brazilain bank debt to trade for shares in these converted enterprises.

LEAD: The city so often seems all flash, splash and split-second obsolescence. But the truth is that it is the quieter, more unobtrusive sorts who get things done in New York City. They know and care for others. They put in exactly a lifetime of work without complaint. At their funerals, they are remembered as nice people.

LEAD: Around the Capitol in Trenton some people have been calling the Chief Justice of the state ''Cecil B. Wilentz'' since his decision to block the producers of ''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' from filming a scene at the Essex County Courthouse here.