March 4, 1992

As officials wrestled with how they might stanch the flow of weapons into New York City's schools, three students were arrested yesterday for carrying semiautomatic guns, two of them students at a pair of the city's more respected high schools. For many school officials, the confluence of incidents seemed to underscore the difficulty of stopping teen-agers from carrying guns even as the Board of Education fashions plans to start daily weapons screenings at 20 high schools and more occasional screenings at an additional 20 high schools by next September. The high schools involved in yesterday's incidents are not currently in the weapons-detection program.

Brushing aside complaints over tobacco advertising and a lack of support by community leaders, New York City granted final approval yesterday to the Marlboro Grand Prix of New York, an annual auto race that will start rattling the financial district's windowpanes in June 1993. The Franchise and Concession Review Committee voted to approve a 10-year agreement with the promoter, MotorMarketing International Incorporated, for a race of 180 to 200 miles over a 1.3-mile temporary track using streets around the World Trade Center. The first race, with most of the same cars and drivers from the Indianapolis 500, is scheduled for June 27, 1993. Long Way From Gasoline Alley Although the low-slung Indy cars, driven by the likes of Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan, exceed 220 miles per hour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they will probably average a more leisurely 100 m.p.h. on the Manhattan course. But the maximum speed on the West Street straightaway could be as much as 165 m.p.h.

President Bush said that breaking the "no new taxes" pledge of his 1988 campaign has been the biggest blunder of his Presidency because it is hurting his drive for re-election. The statement and an accompanying apology were intended to blunt attacks by Mr. Bush's conservative rival, Patrick J. Buchanan, who has been bludgeoning the President with the broken promise.

It was a day when the big boys in both parties got something, but some of the little guys among the Democrats got hustled closer to the exit. The best news was delivered to Bill Clinton, who found that he could win big inside his home region and compete effectively elsewhere despite weeks of battering in the press, and to Paul E. Tsongas, who found that he could win outside his home region, in Maryland and in Utah as well. President Bush managed to fight off a threat by a tyro who has never held elective office, but he learned that he faces a long hard slog.

Salvatore Gravano, an admitted Mafia underboss, gave a detailed and chilling account yesterday of the murder of Paul Castellano and several other slayings that he said were ordered or authorized by John Gotti. In his second day on the stand, Mr. Gravano, a crucial prosecution witness who turned informer four months ago, testified in a gruff, matter-of-fact voice. Mr. Gotti maintained a fixed smile as he stared at his former friend and trusted aide in the crowded, tightly guarded courtroom.