The United Nations in New York City

This week, the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly convened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. According to the official United Nations website, “World leaders gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, ‘Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all’.” 

For the Record looks at the many resources in Municipal Archives and Library collections for researchers interested in documenting the history of the United Nations in New York City.   

United Nations, aerial view, ca. 1962, transparency. Department of Ports and Trade photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The basic structure of the United Nations as agreed to in 1944 at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference did not specify New York City as headquarters for the new peace-keeping organization. The records of the LaGuardia and O’Dwyer mayoral administrations provide ample documentation of the headquarters competition that New York City eventually won in 1946. For example, on September 24, 1945, Mayor LaGuardia received a letter from John E. Mack, Chairman of the Poughkeepsie Chamber of Commerce, urging the Mayor to support the selection of Hyde Park, New York, for the honor. Mack wrote: “It is our belief that Hyde Park has a strong international appeal. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was born here; he lived his lifetime there and is buried there... the proposed site for the United Nations government would center around the Roosevelt home and burial place, in close proximity to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.” LaGuardia immediately replied: “I agree with everything you say... except I am trying to have the headquarters of the United Nations... here in New York City.”  

The competition continued into Mayor William O’Dwyer’s administration. On December 29, 1945, Bronx Borough President James J. Lyons wrote to the Mayor-elect: “Do not let the ‘Oberburgomeiser’ [Robert Moses] sell you in the idea that the Corona Dumps are the only place for the home of the United Nations. Bob has a good batting average, but he frequently strikes out... He proceeds on the main theory that if it is not the ‘Moses Plan’ it is wrong. He has certainly given you a read dud on the Corona Dumps.” 

United Nations Contract 161c, looking north from U.N. roof, April 12, 1950. Borough President Manhattan photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Finally, in 1946, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. contributed $8.5 million to purchase a six-block tract of land on the East River in Manhattan which he donated as the site for the United Nations. The City contributed additional land and spent $23 million for improvements and reconstruction around the site, and the deal was finalized.      

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Cancellation of first United Nations stamp. L to R., Postmaster Albert Goldman, Eleanor Roosevelt, John Golden, Elizabeth Impellitteri, October 5, 1950. Grover Whalen records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

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Invitation to Laying of Cornerstone for the Permanent Headquarters of the United Nations, Luncheon at Gracie Mansion, October 24, 1949. Grover Whalen records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Researchers will find numerous folders labeled “United Nations” within the subject files of each succeeding Mayor. Much of the more recent correspondence focuses on costs incurred by the City in protecting United Nations personnel. For example, in February 1971, William B. Macomber, Jr., the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration in Washington, D.C., wrote to Mayor Lindsay: “As a result of the Administration’s review,... we are prepared to forward proposed legislation to the Congress which would authorize an appropriation in the amount of $1.3 million for payment to the City of New York in defraying the extraordinary expenses it incurred in affording protection to visiting chiefs of state and heads of government during the 25th United Nations General Assembly.” Lindsay replied that he hoped the legislation would support reimbursement for the full $2.6 in security expenditures. The result of this legislative action was not evident in the file, but similar correspondence can be found in later mayoral records.       

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Invitation envelope, 1949, Grover Whalen records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Library’s holdings of printed materials include several pertinent titles. The March 1947 Report on Foundation Investigation, by Moran, Proctor, Freeman & Museser, provides a detailed history of the site, dating back to the colonial era. More recent relevant content such as the United Nations Impact Report, 2016, can be found in the Government Publications Portal, hosted by the Library. The report is full of informative facts: e.g. “Overall, the UN Community contributed an estimated $69 billion in total output to New York City in 2014; approximately 25,040 full-and part-time jobs in New York City are attributable to the UN Community.”  

Researchers interested in how New York City organized and participated in the many ceremonial aspects of the United Nations will find the Mayor’s Reception Committee files a rich resource, particularly for the early years under the leadership of official city-greeter, Grover Whalen. In the 1960s, the Mayor’s Office established a dedicated office, Commissioner to the United Nations, that evolved into the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps & Protocol. The  Municipal Archives collections include several accessions from the various mayoral United Nations-related offices.   

Researchers are encouraged to search in the Collection Guide for further details on available materials, including significant quantities of audio and video materials related to the United Nations and its home in New York City for more than three-quarters of a century.   

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United Nations, ca.. 1985. New York City Convention and Visitors Bureau, NYC Municipal Archives.

We’ll Be Back!

We’ll Be Back!

New York is a destination city. In 2019, more than 66 million visitors from the United States and around the world enjoyed sights and venues throughout the city with maybe only a “sold out” notice spoiling their good times. Preliminary numbers for 2020 looked like it would be another record-breaker. That is, until 8 p.m., March 22nd, when Governor Andrew Cuomo put New York State on “pause,” closing all but essential businesses and requiring residents to “shelter-in-place.” Overnight, the city’s entire $70-billion tourism industry evaporated.

Brooklyn Bridge and the lower Manhattan skyline, ca. 1987. The iconic towers of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the greatest public-works achievements of the 19th Century, has attracted photographers since completion in 1883. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Times Square, ca. 1987. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The current travel restrictions present an un-precedented and unique circumstance in New York City’s history. With the exception of a relatively short period after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and the occasional blizzard or hurricane, visitors have enjoyed “the city that never sleeps,” without interruption.

New Yorkers are looking forward to the day when we will once again welcome friends and visitors to explore this great metropolis. In the meantime, we can ‘virtually’ visit some of the city’s most popular attractions as depicted in pictures commissioned by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau in the mid-1980s. It is a small collection—only 52 transparencies—but their bright colors and iconic scenery showcase what the city has to offer. Although the pictures are not dated, based on signs and banners, it appears the bulk were taken in 1986 or 1987. 

Fifth Avenue entrance, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ca. 1987. The Museum’s entrance steps have long served as a welcome respite for visitors and a prime location for people watching. The Museum is celebrating its 150th birthday in 2020. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau created the photographs to illustrate their promotional materials. Formed in 1934 by merchants, hotel owners and other businesses to bring conventions to the city, the Bureau is a non-profit making entity. The Bureau and its companion organization, NYC & Company, are not city agencies, although they do receive budget support from tax-levy funds.

United Nations member flags welcome visitors to another popular city destination, ca. 1987. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The bronze sculpture of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center is a can’t miss midtown attraction, ca. 1987. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Given the many enduring wonders of the city it would seem that the Bureau’s job would be easy. But there were times when promoting the city was a challenge. “Has New York's image unjustifiably soured, from Fun City to Crime City?” headlined a June 14, 1972, New York Times story about the Bureau’s launch of their annual “New York is a Summer Festival.” For the coronation of Ms. Bernadette Allen, the 19th-annual Summer Festival Queen that year, the Bureau hosted a gala event at one of the city’s premier tourist venues, the Empire State Building. They enlisted celebrities such as Duke Ellington and the “ageless” actress Gloria Swanson to preside over the festival. It is not entirely clear how Swanson’s remarks at the launch, as quoted in the Times, would help to promote tourism: “I chose to live in New York City in 1938 because I pay taxes here.” Perhaps the comment she added, “I’m the hostess with the mostest,” better served the cause. 

The Twin Towers dominate the pre-9/11 Lower Manhattan nighttime skyline, ca. 1987. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Over the next several decades, the city experienced a renaissance and with it, tourism boomed. According to the Bureau, in 1977, more than 16 million tourists visited the city. By 1990, the figure climbed to 20 million, and surpassed 31 million by the end of the decade. After 9/11, tourism in the city gradually escalated up to 54 million in 2013. In 2019, the Bureau counted more than 66 million visitors—53.1 domestic travelers; and 13.5 arriving from overseas.

Taxis in Manhattan, ca. 1987. By the late 1980s, the Chevrolet Caprice had replaced the once-ubiquitous Checker Cab as the taxi of choice for fleet owners. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Antique auto in the Coney Island Boardwalk parade, ca. 1987. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Aqueduct Raceway in Queens, ca. 1987. The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau used their promotional materials to lure visitors to attractions outside Manhattan. New York Convention and Visitors Bureau Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.