January 1, 2001

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Worst winter storm in five years churns into oblivion, leaving foot of snow in New York City and more than two feet in New Jersey and upstate New York; battalions of plows clear most rails, airport runways and highways, allowing trains, planes and unburied cars to move again; but prospect of continued freezing weather makes task of recovery far from over; concerns over snow are put aside by huge crowds who ring in New Year in Times Square, and by people who celebrate at homes or parties across region; Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani again complains about lack of snow removal at area airports by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; photo of traveler sleeping on terminal floor at La Guardia Airport during his unexpected layover (M)

Pres-elect Bush's selection of Donald H Rumsfeld to head Pentagon reflects Bush's and Vice Pres-elect Dick Cheney's strong desire to choose candidate with enough government and business experience and gravitas to trump any other candidate, understand existing and emerging security threats, neutralize opposition in Congress and, most important, run and restructure $309 billion operation; Rumsfeld reportedly dazzled Bush and Cheney with his knowledge and ideas during early interviews; in choosing Rumsfeld, Bush may be breaking his own cardinal rule about picking people who can work together as team, if Rumsfeld's reputation as secretary of derfense in Ford administration is any guide; Bush says he expects there to be disagreements; selection process described; photos (L)

Offer for Fashionmall.com Draws Regulators' Scrutiny Fashionmall.com, a little-known Silicon Alley online retailer, seems to have become the target of a takeover attempt that has attracted the attention of securities regulators. A company called Narax offered to buy Fashionmall for $3.50 a share, or $26.2 million. At the time, Fashionmall's stock was trading at $2.10. The chief executive of Fashionmall could not contact Narax and dismissed the offer. But Nasdaq halted trading of Fashionmall's stock on Thursday after it rose 22 percent, minutes after Narax issued a release that detailed its bid. The run-up in the stock has prompted interest from regulators and Nasdaq officials, people close to the matter said. Fashionmall executives said they were concerned about stock manipulation. [Page C2.]

Worldwide effort to prepare computers for year 2000 not only succeeded in warding off disaster a year ago, but also continues to yield dividends today for information managers; it endowed managers with updated information systems, software development tools and disaster plans, as well as their most complete inventory of computer systems and how they are being used; it also helped big enterprises identify managers capable of handling complex projects reaching into every part of their operations; business leaders, regulators, lawyers insurers and the public all became more technically literate; photos (M)