Jennifer Hsu, Video Producer, WNYC Interactive
Jennifer Hsu produces videos about news and culture for WNYC. She is the creator of the ongoing Know Your Neighbor video series of intimate portraits about living in New York City.
World Leaders Descend on UN Headquarters, Under Construction
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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As world leaders gather this week for the 66th United Nations General Assembly, some may not realize that they're meeting at a massive construction site.
Many locations at the New York City headquarters have been gutted, as part of the Capital Master Plan — the U.N.'s five-year, nearly $2 billion renovation project to make the complex more sustainable and energy efficient.
The project is now halfway in, and some buildings, like the Secretariat, are completely empty. Since early 2010, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and approximately 3,500 of his U.N. staffers have been working out of temporary office spaces.
WNYC took a behind-the-scenes tour of the headquarters under construction with the director of the project, Assistant Secretary General Michael Adlerstein, and Capital Master Plan spokesman Werner Schmidt.
Comments [2]
Neat. I like Mr. Schmidt's hair sticking out from under his hard hat. My understanding is that the UN Building was the last major skyscraper built in NY with windows that open and close.
Interesting to see the process.
I was in the building when they started to take down the offices. I also shot a video about it - it was the last day of the legendary Ping Pong Club on the top floor. The Ping Pong Diplomacy will continue but not on the top floor. Plans are to put the athletes of the UN in the Basement. Below you can see what it looked like when the last match was played and the offices were all torn down.
http://vimeo.com/10983457
Matthias aka Bayer in Brooklyn
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