U.N. RENOVATION SOARS TOWARD $2B

NY Post ^ | November 18, 2005 | Andy Soltis

[drellberg]

"The renovation of the United Nations' aging East Side headquarters could cost $1.9 billion — more than a third above previous estimates, U.N. officials said yesterday.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan blamed skyrocketing Manhattan real estate and construction costs, expensive security and the balky state Legislature for pricey revisions in previous plans."

______________

One of my favorite all-time finds on the Internet was Donald Trump riiiiiipping the UN for this whole sordid affair. And I mean ... he riiiiiips them.

Follow the links on Powerline ...

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/011113.php#011113

[camle]

it would be a lot cheaper if they just said "give turtle bay back to the turtles" and built in zimbabwe

[libstripper]

It would have been so much better if they'd have flown the planes into the UN HQ.

[PeterFinn]

Amen! Put Kofi's office in the corner mud hut next to Mugabe's.

[eureka!]

Sheesh. Almost as much as the entirety of New Orleans. As to that Trump testimony, I heard it and it too is one of my all time favorite instances of Senate testimony. Everyone has to hear it...

[Fiddlstix]

[Kokojmudd]

Time for an astute developer to take advantage of the recent supreme court lawmaking on eminent domain and turn the property into condos.

[Mcirrus]

Maybe they could use some of the millions they stole from the Iraqi children in the oil food food scandal.

[edcoil]

Do the people of New York have a ballot initiative? Could they vote the UN out of their city?

Who owns the building and when is the lease up?

[rollo tomasi]

"Secretary-General Kofi Annan blamed skyrocketing Manhattan real estate and construction costs, expensive security and the balky state Legislature for pricey revisions in previous plans."

This reminds me of the bookworm professor being lectured by Rodney Dangerfield's Character in back to school:

"First of all, you have to grease the local politicians... for the sudden zoning problems that always come up.

Then there's the kickbacks to the carpenters.

And if you plan on using any cement in this building I'm sure the teamsters would like to have a little chat with you, and that'll cost you.

Don't forget a little something for the building inspectors.

There's the long-term costs, such as waste disposal.
I don't know if you're familiar with who runs that business but I assure you it's not the boy scouts."

[steveyp]

Anybody have any luck getting to the Trump testimony via Radioblogger? Have to hear this...

[kromike]

I was gonna say that...

:)

Unfortunately, it's too late...all those million$ have gone to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Saddam Defense Fund, A.N.S.W.E.R., Cindy Sheehan, the DNC...

[loreldan]

Secretary-General Kofi Annan blamed skyrocketing Manhattan real estate and construction costs, expensive security and the balky state Legislature for pricey revisions in previous plans."

Not to mention his sons "allowance".

[GovernmentShrinker]

It's not often that I find myself on the same side of a conflict as the egomaniacal "Donald", but this is one of those times.

[TheBattman]

You know - I'm not a huge fan of Donald Trump, BUT...

I saw him give testimony in congress regarding the tab for the UN remodel.... He absolutely BLASTED the plan as not only inefficient, but a boondoggle.

First, he described how it would be less expensive to just rebuild from scratch. Then, if that was not acceptable, that a complete redo of the entire building - to far higher levels of luxury, materials, and craftsmanship, should cost less th an $100 million. He said he could not in any way see how the price tag at that time would be justified. For that price tag, they could build a far larger and more "glorious" and "luxurious" building from scratch.

The UN project is nothing more than an attempt to rape the American taxpayers.

[syncked]

Nah.. Move it to an international place where real estate is really cheap...Antarctica! Tell them things will be fine once Global Warming maxes out.

[cloud8]

> Who owns the building and when is the lease up?

"The site of the United Nations headquarters has extraterritoriality status like embassies do. This affects some law enforcement where UN rules override the laws of New York City, but does not give immunity to crimes that take place there. In addition, a few members of the UN staff have diplomatic immunity and so cannot be prosecuted by local courts unless the diplomatic immunity is waived by the Secretary-General. In 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan waived the immunity of Benon Sevan, Aleksandr Yakovlev, and Vladimir Kuznetsov in relation to the Oil-for-Food Program. All have been charged in the US Federal Court of New York.

"The United Nations headquarters building was constructed in New York City in 1949 and 1950 beside the East River on land purchased by an 8.5 million dollar donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It is a declared international zone belonging to all Member States, and as such will survive in perpetuity, forever belonging to the Member States as an asset of the UN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_building