Mayor Says He Supports U.N.’s Presence in City
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that while he doesn’t always agree with the United Nations he fails “to see the arguments to drive the U.N. out of the city.”
“I’ve always thought that talking face to face, even if you don’t like what people are saying, is a lot better than shooting at each other,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
His comments came after reports that he is reviving a push for Albany’s approval on a 35-story building at a playground next to the United Nations with the expectation that the world body would lease it.
That deal was scuttled in 2004 when the state Senate refused to consider a bill after intense opposition from lawmakers who view the United Nations as anti-American.
Mr. Bloomberg and a deputy mayor, Daniel Doctoroff, who oversees economic development in the city, said that if built, the 35-story tower would allow the United Nations to clear out of two city-owned buildings, which could be sold or redeveloped.
During a phone interview yesterday, Mr. Doctoroff said the city has been “having conversations” with Albany legislators and that it would “like to help the U.N. because the U.N. helps New York.”
