Planning Site The headquarters of the United Nations occupies a site beside the East River between
42nd and 48th Streets, on between of land purchased from the real estate developer
William Zeckendorf Sr. At the time, the site was part of
Turtle Bay, which contained
slaughterhouses and
tenement buildings, as well as the original
Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory The Rockefeller family owned the
Tudor City Apartments across First Avenue from the Zeckendorf site. The city, in turn, spent $5 million ($ million in ) on clearing the land. Rockefeller donated the site to the UN in December 1946. The UN accepted this donation, despite the objections of several prominent architects such as
Le Corbusier. Niemeyer met with Corbusier at the latter's request shortly after the former arrived in New York City. Corbusier had already been lobbying hard to promote his own scheme 23, and thus, requested that Niemeyer not submit a design, lest he further confuse the contentious meetings of the Board of Design. Instead, Corbusier asked the younger architect Niemeyer to assist him with his project. Niemeyer began to absent himself from the meetings. Only after Wallace Harrison and
Max Abramovitz repeatedly pressed him to participate did Niemeyer agree to submit his own project. Niemeyer's project 32 was finally chosen, but as opposed to Corbusier's project 23, which consisted of one building containing both the Assembly Hall and the councils in the center of the site (as it was hierarchically the most important building), Niemeyer's plan split the councils from the Assembly Hall, locating the first alongside the river, and the second on the right side of the secretariat. This would not split the site, but on the contrary, would create a large civic square. in front of the
General Assembly Building (1950s) After much discussion, Harrison, who coordinated the meetings, determined that a design based on Niemeyer's Project 32 and Le Corbusier's Project 23 would be developed for the final project. Le Corbusier's Project 23 consisted of a large block containing both the Assembly Hall and the Council Chambers near the center of the site with the Secretariat tower emerging as a slab from the south. Niemeyer's plan was closer to that constructed, with a distinctive General Assembly Building, a long low horizontal block housing the other meeting rooms, and a tall tower for the Secretariat. The complex, as built, repositioned Niemeyer's General Assembly building to the north of this tripartite composition. This plan included a public plaza as well. The UN headquarters was originally proposed alongside a grand boulevard leading eastward from
Third Avenue or
Lexington Avenue, between 46th Street to the south and 49th Street to the north. These plans were eventually downsized into
Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, a small plaza on the south side of 47th Street east of Second Avenue. Later on, Corbusier came once again to Niemeyer and asked him to reposition the Assembly Hall back to the center of the site. Such modification would destroy Niemeyer's plans for a large civic square. However, he finally decided to accept the modification; together, they submitted the scheme 23–32, which was built and is what can be seen today. Along with suggestions from the other members of the Board of Design Consultants, this was developed into project 42G. This late project was built with some reductions and other modifications.
Proposed alternatives Many cities vied for the honor of hosting the UN Headquarters site, before the selection of New York City. The selection of the East River site came after over a year of protracted study and consideration of many sites in the United States. A powerful faction among the delegates advocated returning to
the former League of Nations complex in Geneva, Switzerland. A wide variety of suggestions were made, including such fanciful suggestions as a ship on the high seas to housing the entire complex in a single tall building. Amateur architects submitted designs, and local governments offered park areas, but the determined group of New York City boosters that included
Grover Whalen,
Thomas J. Watson, and
Nelson Rockefeller, coordinated efforts with the Coordinator of Construction,
Robert Moses, and Mayor
William O'Dwyer, to assemble acceptable interim facilities. Sites in
San Francisco (including the
Presidio) and
Marin County in California;
St. Louis, Missouri;
Boston, Massachusetts;
Chicago, Illinois;
Fairfield County, Connecticut;
Westchester County and
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York;
Tuskahoma, Oklahoma; the
Black Hills of
South Dakota;
Belle Isle in
Detroit, Michigan; and a site on
Navy Island straddling the US–Canada border were considered as potential sites for the UN Headquarters. San Francisco, where the UN was founded in 1945, was favored by
Australia,
New Zealand,
China, and the
Philippines due to the city's proximity to their countries. The UN and many of its delegates seriously considered
Philadelphia for the headquarters; the
government of Philadelphia offered to donate land in several areas, including
Fairmount Park,
Andorra, and a
Center City location which would have placed the headquarters along a
mall extending from
Independence Hall to
Penn's Landing. Robert Moses and Rockefeller Sr. convinced
Nelson Rockefeller to buy the land after the Rockefellers'
Kykuit estate in
Mount Pleasant, New York, was deemed too isolated from Manhattan.
Previous temporary sites In 1945–46,
London hosted the
first meeting of the General Assembly in
Methodist Central Hall, and the Security Council in
Church House. The
third and
sixth General Assembly sessions, in 1948 and 1951, met in the
Palais de Chaillot in
Paris. Prior to the completion of the current headquarters, the UN used part of a
Sperry Gyroscope Company factory in
Lake Success, New York, for most of its operations, including the Security Council, between 1946 and 1952. The Security Council also held sessions on what was then the
Bronx campus of
Hunter College (now the site of
Lehman College) from March to August 1946. Between 1946 and 1950, the General Assembly met at the
New York City Building in
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, which had been built for the
1939 New York World's Fair and is now the site of the
Queens Museum. The
Long Island Rail Road reopened the former
World's Fair station as
United Nations station.
Construction Per an agreement with the city, the buildings met some but not all local fire safety and
building codes. The US Congress authorized the loan on August 6, 1948, on the condition that the UN repay the loan in twelve monthly instalments between July 1951 and July 1952. Of the $65 million, $25 million was to be made available immediately from the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation. However, the full loan was initially withheld due to a case regarding UN employee Valentin Gubitchev and
KGB spy
Judith Coplon, who had been charged with espionage and were set to go on trial in March 1949. The House was loath to distribute the full $65 million because the government was concerned that the UN's proposed headquarters would grant
diplomatic immunity to the two individuals. The UN used the Reconstruction Finance Corp.'s $25 million as a stopgap measure. The resulting case circumscribed the immunity of UN employees. To save money, the UN considered retaining an existing building on the Manhattan site, which had been slated for demolition once the headquarters was completed. Until 1950, the UN refused to accept private donations for the headquarters' construction, citing a policy that prohibited them from accepting donations. The
groundbreaking ceremony for the initial buildings occurred on September 14, 1948. A bucket of earth was removed to mark the start of construction for the basement of the 39-story
Secretariat Building. In October, Harrison requested that its 58 members and the 48 US states participate in designing the interiors of the building's conference rooms. It was believed that if enough countries designed their own rooms, the UN would be able to reduce its own expenditures. The headquarters were originally supposed to be completed in 1951, with the first occupants moving into the Secretariat Building in 1950. However, in November, New York City's construction coordinator
Robert Moses reported that construction was two months behind schedule. By that time, 60% of the headquarters' site had been excavated. The same month, the
United Nations General Assembly unanimously voted to formally thank the national, state, and city governments for their role in building the headquarters. A joint venture of the
George A. Fuller Company,
Turner Construction, the
Walsh Construction Company, and the
Slattery Contracting Company was selected in December 1948 to construct the Secretariat Building, as well as the foundations for the remaining buildings. The formal $23.8 million contract for the Secretariat Building was awarded in January 1949. A prayer space for people of all religions was announced on April 18, 1949. Until then, the UN had avoided the subject of a prayer room, because it had been difficult, if not impossible, to create a prayer room that could accommodate the various religions. Two days after this announcement, workers erected the first steel beam for the Secretariat Building, to little official fanfare. The consortium working on the Secretariat Building announced that 13,000 tons of steel would eventually be used in the building and that the steelwork would consist of a strong
wind bracing system because the structure was so narrow. The
flag of the United Nations was raised above the first beam as a demonstration for the many spectators who witnessed the first beam's erection. The Secretariat Building was to be completed no later than January 1, 1951, and if the consortium of Fuller, Turner, Slattery, and Walsh exceeded that deadline, they had to pay a minimum penalty of $2,500 per day to the UN. To reduce construction costs, the complex's planners downsized the Secretariat Building from 42 stories to 39 stories. The
cornerstone of the headquarters was originally supposed to be laid on April 10, 1949. However, in March of that year,
Secretary-General Trygve Lie delayed the ceremony after learning that Truman would not be present to officiate the cornerstone laying. Seven months later, on October 11, Truman accepted an invitation to attend a cornerstone-laying ceremony, which was planned to occur on October 24. At the ceremony, New York Governor
Thomas E. Dewey laid the headquarters' cornerstone. In June 1949, UN officials wrote a letter to the
American Bridge Company in which they expressed intent to buy 10,000 to 11,000 tons of steel. This steel would be used to build the rest of the complex, as well as a deck over
FDR Drive on the headquarters' eastern side. To fit in with the accelerated schedule of construction, the steel would have to be delivered by September. Property inside
Tudor City, just west of the headquarters, was also acquired so that two streets near the UN headquarters could be widened. The expanded streets were expected to speed up construction. In October 1949, contracts were awarded for the construction of two vehicular ramps over the FDR Drive: one to the north of the UN headquarters, and one to the south. Another contract to redevelop 42nd Street, a major corridor leading to the UN headquarters, was awarded in December of that year. The Secretariat Building was ceremonially
topped out in October 1949 after its steel framework had been completed. The UN flag was hoisted atop the roof of the newly completed steel frame in celebration of this event. The installation of the Secretariat Building's interior furnishings proceeded quickly so that the building could be open in January 1951. In February 1950, the UN invited companies from 37 countries to bid on $2 million worth of furniture for the Secretariat Building. A month later, the UN announced that it would also be accepting all donations from private citizens, entities, or organizations. This marked a reversal from their previous policy of rejecting all donations. At the time, the building was not expected to be complete until 1952 due to a steelworkers' strike, which had delayed the production of steel. The first pieces of the platform over the FDR Drive was lifted into place the same month. In June 1950, Norway proposed that it decorate and outfit the complex's Security Council chamber, and the UN unofficially accepted the Norwegian offer. In December 1949, Robert Moses proposed placing a playground inside the UN headquarters, but this plan was initially rejected. The UN subsequently reversed its position in April 1951, and Lie agreed to build a playground at the northeast corner of the headquarters site. However, the UN did reject an unusual "model playground" proposal for that site, instead choosing to construct a play area similar to others found around New York City. The playground opened in April 1953.
Opening The first 450 UN employees started working at the Secretariat Building on August 22, 1950. The United Nations officially moved into the Secretariat Building on January 8, 1951, by which time 3,300 employees occupied the building. At the time, much of the Secretariat Building was still unfinished, and the bulk of the UN's operations still remained at Lake Success. A centralized phone-communications system was built to facilitate communications within the complex. The UN had completely moved out of its Lake Success headquarters by May. The construction of the General Assembly Building was delayed due to a shortage of limestone for the building, which in turn resulted from a heavy snow at the British limestone quarries that were supplying the building's
Portland limestone. The erection of the building's framework began in February 1952. The Manhattan headquarters was declared complete on October 10, 1952. The cost of construction was reported to be on budget at $65 million. In 1953, twenty-one nations donated furnishings or offered to decorate the UN headquarters. A new library building for the UN headquarters was proposed in 1952. The existing UN library, a 6-story structure formerly owned by the
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), was too small. The NYCHA building could only hold 170,000 books, whereas the UN wanted to host at least 350,000 to 400,000 books in its library. The new facility was slated to cost $3 million. By 1955, the collection was housed in the Secretariat Building and held 250,000 volumes in "every language of the world", according to
The New York Times. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library Building, designed by Harrison and Abramovitz, was officially dedicated in November 1961. The
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) moved to leased office space three years later. The East River-Turtle Bay Fund, a civic group, proposed that the United Nations purchase a tract located to the south of the headquarters, on the site of the
Robert Moses Playground and the
Queens–Midtown Tunnel ventilation building between 41st and 42nd Streets. The northern portion of the United Nations site remained largely undeveloped through the mid-1960s; a proposed skyscraper by Wallace K. Harrison was scrapped after the UN ran out of money and had to borrow $65 million from the United States government. In December 1964 members of the
Cuban Nationalist Association fired a bazooka at the headquarters as
Che Guevara was speaking, however they failed to hit their target. A radical proposal for redeveloping the area around the UN headquarters was proposed in 1968. It entailed closing First Avenue between 43rd and 45th Streets; constructing a new visitor center with two 44-story towers between 43rd and 45th Streets; and connecting the new visitor center with the existing headquarters via a public park. This plan was presented to the New York City government in 1969, but was ultimately not acted upon. The main headquarters was expanded slightly from 1978 to 1981, including the construction of a new cafeteria and a slight expansion of the Conference Building. The UN staff continued to grow, and by 1969, the organization had 3,500 staff working in the New York headquarters. The UN rented additional space at 485 Lexington Avenue and in the
Chrysler East complex, located three blocks west of the headquarters. It also announced its intention to build a new storage building between 41st and 42nd Streets. None of these properties would receive the extraterritorial status conferred on the original headquarters.
One United Nations Plaza, an office building on 44th Street just outside the UN complex, was completed in 1975 with the
United Nations Plaza Hotel on its upper stories. Another office tower outside the headquarters proper,
Two United Nations Plaza, was completed in 1983. The new buildings were barely sufficient to accommodate the UN's demand for office space; the organization itself had expanded to 140 members by the 1970s. Because the headquarters was extraterritorial territory, they were exempt from various building regulations. By 1998, the buildings had become technologically dated, and UN officials considered renovating the headquarters. The mechanical systems were so outdated that the UN had to manufacture its own replacement parts.
The New York Times wrote that "if the United Nations had to abide by city building regulations [...] it might well be shuttered". The UN commissioned a report from engineering firm
Ove Arup & Partners, which published its findings in 2000. Ove Arup recommended renovating the UN headquarters over a six-year period, as well as expanding the Secretariat Building, but the UN could not secure funding for the project at the time. In 2002, Secretary General
Kofi Annan proposed replacing the nearby Robert Moses Playground with a new tower, relocating the Secretariat's offices there temporarily, and renovating the Secretariat Building itself. but the
New York State Legislature refused to pass legislation in 2005 that would have allowed these plans to proceed. Alternative sites were considered as temporary holding locations during renovations. In 2005, officials explored the possibility of establishing a new temporary site at the old Lake Success location.
Brooklyn was also suggested as a temporary site. Another alternative for a temporary headquarters or a new permanent facility was the
World Trade Center site. Once again, these plans met resistance both within the UN and from the United States and New York governments and were abandoned. The UN then decided to renovate its existing structures over a seven-year period for US$1.6 billion. Louis Frederick Reuter IV originally designed the renovation, but he resigned in 2006 following various disputes between UN and US officials.
Michael Adlerstein was hired as the new project architect. The renovations, which were the first since the complex opened in 1950, were expected to take about 7 years to complete. When completed the complex is also expected to be more energy efficient and have improved security. A temporary $140 million "North Lawn Building" was built to house the United Nations' "critical operations" while renovations proceeded. By 2009 the cost of the work had risen from $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion with some estimates saying it would take up to $3 billion. Officials hoped the renovated buildings would achieve a
LEED Silver rating. Despite some delays and rises in construction costs, renovation on the entire UN headquarters progressed rapidly. By 2012, the installation of the new glass facade of the Secretariat Building was completed, and the UN staff moved into the newly renovated building in July 2012. By September 2015, the renovations were nearly complete but the cost had risen to $2.15 billion. Demolition of the North Lawn Building began in January 2016. The building was replaced with an open plaza, and most of its materials were to be recycled. In 2019, due to a budget shortfall, the UN cut back some services at its headquarters, such as heating and air-conditioning. On March 10, 2020, the UN closed to the general public due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the UN furloughed some of its headquarters' staff. ==International character==