UN Headquarters Moving Out of New York?

The United Nations complex in New York City contains some of the most recognizable buildings in the world. The Secretariat Tower, designed by the renowned French architect Le Corbusier, is considered a classic example of the International or Bauhaus style of architecture. The distinctive Dag Hammarskjöld Library and General Assembly buildings are the other two principal buildings in the complex.

Still striking on the outside, the buildings are falling apart on the inside, Le Corbusier’s tower in particular. A renovation project estimated to cost $1.87 billion is ongoing. But there is also serious talk of abandoning the aging buildings entirely and moving the UN headquarters away from New York.

Joel Kotkin and Robert J. Cristiano write in Forbes, “Today the U.N. building is a mostly empty shell — water dripping through its roof, asbestos lining its ceiling and an erratic heating and cooling system have forced most UN workers to new facilities.” Kotkin and Cristiano want the UN headquarters to be moved to Dubai, which has offered to host the UN if it ever wants to move out of New York.

Granted, Kotkin and Cirstiano seem not to like the UN very much. “The United Nations is a pain in the butt,” they write. “The place is a sinkhole dominated by anti-American, anti-Semitic and authoritarian fantasies.” I don’t know if most New Yorkers feel that way, but I don’t think they would miss the UN if it goes. In Manhattan, the UN is best known for causing traffic gridlock whenever a head of state is in town.

Asbestos abatement is a major component of the renovation. In recent years building management has had to issue several assurances about the building’s safety to increasingly nervous workers. The U.N. Staff Union, representing more than 5,000 staff at U.N. headquarters, objected to the fact that asbestos abatement in the tower began while the building was still occupied. Exposure to asbestos causes the deadly lung disease mesothelioma and other health problems.

Right now, more than 7,000 UN staff members are working in rented offices in Manhattan. Recently Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his personal staff moved into a temporary three-story office building built on the UN’s north lawn. However, some staff members are still working in the tower.

— Barbara O’Brien

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.