Posted on 06/02/2004 9:03:40 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Crumbling edifice of the UN
By Susannah Price
BBC United Nations correspondent
The landmark United Nations headquarters in New York was state of the art when it was built more than 50 years ago.
|
| Impressive from the outside... |
Behind the scenes, it is a different story. The plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems also date back half a century and have gone well beyond their useful life.
The UN is looking for $1.2bn for a complete renovation. UN officials are taking politicians, journalists and diplomats on a so-called "dirty tour" of the worst affected areas to see how bad the situation really is.
"The dirty tour is to show people who are interested in the renovation of the UN complex what it is we are going to do, why we need to do it and the age and condition of the equipment," said John Clarkson, director of the planned overhaul of the UN's ageing infrastructure, known as the Capital Master Plan.
 |
| ...less so on the inside |
The tour starts up on the mechanical floor where the heating, ventilation and cooling systems for 10 other floors are based.
Huge pipes snake along the ceiling and floors next to a panel of old dials and meters which would look more at home in a museum. Along the corridor, behind padlocked metal doors with warning signs, there are high voltage transformers, which these days are no longer found inside buildings.
The rooms on the floor directly below the transformers are empty. No one wants to work there because of the potential danger from the electromagnetic rays.
 |
All the old systems need to be replaced |
Here Mr Clarkson also shows visitors the crumbling asbestos, once used for insulation but now recognised as a danger to health, which lurks on walls behind 4,000 of the wall-mounted heating and cooling systems in the UN.
"We want to remove all the asbestos and hazardous materials along with the old building systems such as the heating, ventilation, plumbing. Then we will reconstruct it all from scratch," said Mr Clarkson. "The building will function more efficiently at the end."
The Capital Master Plan will entail moving all 3,600 staff out of the UN headquarters into a temporary home to be built nearby with enough room for the Security Council and General Assembly meetings.
The UN complex would be renovated and staff moved back in after five or six years.
The US has said it will lend the UN the money to pay for the work but Washington wants the UN to pay interest. UN officials say this will double the cost of the project and are still looking for other sources of funding.
| We have a place in the basement where we filter the water coming in. When we empty this for maintenance, at the bottom we find crabs, fish and eels |
| Tony Raymond, Mechanical Maintenance Unit |
In another windowless room, Tony Raymond, general foreman for the Mechanical Maintenance Unit, adjusts the temperature in the building through a bank of switches.
He describes how they use water from the East River to cool down the machines with unexpected benefits.
"We have a place in the basement where we filter the water coming in. When we empty this for maintenance, at the bottom we find crabs, fish and eels," he said.
"Some people like to take them home - as long as they don't wind up on my dinner table that's fine by me."
UN officials say the building is not dangerous, but it does not conform to modern safety standards.
Catherine Bertini, the UN's under-secretary general for management, personally experienced the vintage infrastructure when the pipes in her ceiling burst as she was about to welcome the Italian ambassador.
"This is not the safest place in the world to work, although it may be doing some of the most important work in the world," she said.
They could move HQ to Sudan. They are the UN's shining example of human rights (and are again seated on the panel).
...If they want a renovation, let them go stay in Geneva, maybe in a fortress in the Alps...
Step 1. Move the UN out of the buildings.
Step 2. Use the complex as the army's new urban warfare training center.
Improved plan: skip step 1.
Bad idea. Strategic bombing won't be nearly as effective and we'll lose a lot of troops digging them out when we finally have to.
I remember a story, years ago, about how a UN organization, UNICEF, squandered millions of dollars paying rent for the top floors of a NY office tower, even when they were offered the 2 to 3th floors of the same building for... FREE!
Nope, the lower floors weren't good enough for their big egos - so instead they squandered $600,000 a year for the penthouse floors.
After reading that article, I never gave a single cent to them. (the poor kids, fooled into canvassing for Unicef at Halloween, were unwitting tools in this odious scam)
UN = Hypocritical Corrupt Con Men skimming 90% for themselves = UN (unmitagated frauds)
Eactly. The UN'll be there to demonstrate to the rest of the world how it cleans up messes!
Haiti has all the problems of the world for the UN to practice on: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, starvation, illiteracy, AIDS, twobit dictators, etc.
Let the UN redeem itself by showing us why its worthy to pick our pockets.
Look at the side benefits: Bono has less time to showboat in the US, the NYSlimes UN reporter will have to be down
there, no more turd-world dictators being welcomed in NYC. Until a Clintonista's back in the Whitehouse, anyway.
nah. that's too posh digs fer the likes of the UN. a rwandan outhouse should suffice
nah. that's too posh digs fer the likes of the UN. a rwandan outhouse should suffice
In Jerusalem.
Not Haiti. Jerusalem.
...No troops would be lost, the senate could enact another commitee, and make Sir Hillary head climber, to lead the expedition...
Will the structure last long enough for it to be occupied before it collapses from the latest French contruction techniques?
Build it in Afghanistan.
UN Inspector says, "...is not a problem."
This request is no different than an AIDS infested, butt-ugly, crack-whore prostitute demanding a chateau in France for her "services."
I'm sure Al Qaeda could give them a special price on building removal in NY with their extensive experience and low cost approach.
BUMP
now there's an appropriate place for the un!
Serious proposal:
Since they need to move anyway, the time is perfect for the U.N. to puts its HQ location up for bid. The nation that makes them the best offer gets to be the new host nation for the U.N.
(This only works if the U.S. is NOT one of the bidders.)
bttt!
It's Standard Operating Procedure for an organization to set aside a certain amount every year for upkeep and repairs.
It's absolutely typical of the U.N. to blow all its money on junkets, high living, and perks such as juvenile sex slaves, while letting their building go to the dogs. Now they expect the U.S. taxpayers to fix it.
The best thing that could happen is to get the U.N. out of N.Y. It would be a good first step toward getting the U.S. out of the U.N.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.