The United Nations building at Turtle Bay, Manhattan is a major landmark in the city of New York.
This imposing complex, facing the East River has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its opening On This Day in 1951. Also on the 10th January in 1946, the first General Assembly session of the UN was held in London.
The complex was designed by a Board of International Architects led by Wallace Harrison and built by Harrison & Abramovitz. French architect Le Corbusier, who designed Chandigarh city was also part of the Board.
The UN Headquarters complex comprises the multi-storey Secretariat Building, the General Assembly Building, the Conference Building and the Dag Hammarskjold Library.
196 flags fly outside the UN Headquarters, comprising flags of each member nation and the flag of the United Nations itself. The flags are arranged in alphabetical order of countries by their names in English, from north to south.
The Japanese Peace Bell and the Knotted Gun Non-violence Sculptute by Swedish artist Carl Reutersward are among the prominent art objects in the complex. A piece of the Berlin Wall is also placed in the UN Garden.
Although the headquarter complex is in the New York City, the land occupied by the UN Headquarters is under the sole administration of the United Nations and not the US government. Hence, technically it is the extra-territorial space within the city.
While the presence of the UN Headquarters has catapulted New York as the seat of international diplomacy, nearly two-thirds of the New Yorkers favour shifting of the UN Seat out of their city.
The relocation proposal has both supporters and opposers, with Russia and Iran being most vocal about relocation. Montreal, Dubai, Nairobi are some of the candidate cities, even as Geneva, the original home of the League of Nations, can also not be overlooked.
MD/Post/V
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