place

United Nations Secretariat Building

1951 establishments in New York CityBuildings associated with the Rockefeller familyHarrison & Abramovitz buildingsHeadquarters of the United NationsLe Corbusier buildings
Modernist architecture in New York CityOffice buildings completed in 1951Oscar Niemeyer buildingsSkyscraper office buildings in ManhattanTurtle Bay, ManhattanUnited Nations SecretariatUse American English from August 2022Use mdy dates from August 2022
UNO New York
UNO New York

The United Nations Secretariat Building is a skyscraper within the headquarters of the United Nations in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It contains the offices of the United Nations Secretariat, the executive organ of the United Nations (UN). The building, designed in the International Style, is 505 ft (154 m) tall with 39 above-ground stories. It was designed by a group of architects led by Wallace Harrison. Although the building is located within the United States, the site is under UN jurisdiction, so the building is exempt from some local regulations. The Secretariat Building is designed as a rectangular slab measuring 72 by 287 ft (22 by 87 m); it is oriented from north to south and is connected with other buildings in the UN headquarters. The wider western and eastern elevations of the facade are glass curtain walls, while the narrower northern and southern elevations are made of marble. The Secretariat Building contains 889,000 sq ft (82,600 m2) of space. The lowest stories contain press offices, staff rooms, and other functions. The Secretariat offices are placed on the upper stories, which were originally arranged in a modular layout. The building also contains various pieces of artwork. The building's style has inspired the construction of other glass curtain wall buildings in Manhattan. The design process for the United Nations headquarters formally began in February 1947, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Secretariat Building occurred on September 14, 1948. Staff started moving into the building on August 21, 1950, and it was completed in June 1951. Within a decade, the Secretariat Building was overcrowded, prompting the UN to build additional office space in the area. The building started to deteriorate in the 1980s due to a lack of funding, which was worsened by the fact that it did not meet modern New York City building codes. UN officials considered renovating the building by the late 1990s, but the project was deferred for several years. The Secretariat Building was renovated starting in 2010, and it reopened in phases from July to December 2012.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article United Nations Secretariat Building (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

United Nations Secretariat Building
FDR Drive, New York Manhattan

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Website Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: United Nations Secretariat BuildingContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.748888888889 ° E -73.968055555556 °
placeShow on map

Address

United Nations Headquarters

FDR Drive 405
10017 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
un.org

linkVisit website

UNO New York
UNO New York
Share experience

Nearby Places

Headquarters of the United Nations
Headquarters of the United Nations

The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on 17 to 18 acres (6.9 to 7.3 ha) of grounds overlooking the East River. Its borders are First Avenue on the west, East 42nd Street to the south, East 48th Street on the north, and the East River to the east. The complex consists of several structures, including the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buildings and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. The complex was designed by a board of architects led by Wallace Harrison and built by the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz, with final projects developed by Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier. The term Turtle Bay is occasionally used as a metonym for the UN headquarters or for the United Nations as a whole.The headquarters holds the seats of the principal organs of the UN, including the General Assembly and the Security Council, but excluding the International Court of Justice, which is seated in The Hague. The United Nations has three additional subsidiary regional headquarters, or headquarters districts. These were opened in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1946, Vienna (Austria) in 1980, and Nairobi (Kenya) in 1996. These adjunct offices help represent UN interests, facilitate diplomatic activities, and enjoy certain extraterritorial privileges, but do not contain the seats of major organs. Although it is physically situated in New York City, the land occupied by the United Nations Headquarters and the spaces of buildings that it rents are under the sole administration of the United Nations and not the U.S. government. They are technically extraterritorial through a treaty agreement with the U.S. government. However, in exchange for local police, fire protection, and other services, the United Nations agrees to acknowledge most local, state, and federal laws.None of the United Nations' 15 specialized agencies (such as UNESCO) are located at the headquarters. However, some "autonomous subsidiary organs", such as UNICEF, have their headquarters at the UNHQ.

United Nations General Assembly Building
United Nations General Assembly Building

The United Nations General Assembly Building is part of the headquarters of the United Nations in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It contains the main assembly hall of the United Nations General Assembly, the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the United Nations (UN). The building was designed by a group of architects led by Wallace Harrison. It is connected with the other buildings in the UN headquarters, including the Secretariat Building and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Although the building is located within the United States, the site is under UN jurisdiction, so the building is exempt from some local regulations. The General Assembly Building is a four-story structure measuring 380 by 160 ft (116 by 49 m), with concave walls to the west and east, as well as a concave roof with a dome. The building contains a lobby for journalists and the general public to the north, as well as a lobby for delegates to the south. The central portion of the General Assembly Building is the General Assembly Hall, which has a seating capacity of 1,800 and measures 165 ft (50 m) long, 115 ft (35 m) wide, and 75 ft (23 m) tall. Each delegation has six seats in the hall, which face south toward a rostrum and a paneled semicircular wall with booths. The building also contains other spaces, including a delegates' lounge and the president of the United Nations General Assembly's offices on the second floor; a meditation room on the ground floor; and various shops and conference rooms in the basement. The design process for the United Nations headquarters formally began in February 1947. The General Assembly Building was the third building to be constructed at the headquarters, after the Secretariat and Conference buildings. Construction of the General Assembly Building's steelwork began in February 1950, and the building was formally dedicated on October 10, 1952. The rapid enlargement of the United Nations prompted the UN to modify the hall's layout several times in the 1960s. The General Assembly Hall was closed for renovation from 1978 to 1979 to accommodate additional delegations. The building started to deteriorate in the 1980s due to a lack of funding, and UN officials considered renovating the complex by the late 1990s, but the project was deferred for several years. As part of a wide-ranging project that began in 2008, the General Assembly Building was renovated from 2013 to 2014.