Submit your comments on this article |
International-UN-NGOs |
UN to be Emptied for Three Years |
2007-10-22 |
It's a start.![]() Authorities are considering emptying the massive U.N. headquarters building for at least three years to get a long-delayed renovation project back on track and on budget, according to people who have been briefed on the plan. Member states' deliberations and security considerations have left the $1.8 billion renovation a year behind schedule, with every month adding roughly $10 million to the overall cost of the project. Now the construction officials are considering emptying and rehabbing the 39-story Secretariat building on New York's East River all at once, abandoning a controversial plan to do the work in 10-floor sections of an otherwise occupied building. Critics have long complained about the plan's risks, noting that the tower is 44 years old, riddled with asbestos and lacking a sprinkler system. |
Posted by:Bobby |
#16 I say we move them to Dafur. That way they can fight with the militants for the remaining under-age girls. With luck they will kill each other off and leave the girls alone for once. |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-10-22 22:13 |
#15 As long as it's being done by U.S. contractors, I really don't care what it costs. In fact, the more the better. Every dollar that goes to the contractors is one less dollar for the U.N. to subvert our interests. |
Posted by: Darrell 2007-10-22 19:45 |
#14 I think they should relocate the UN to Mogadishu. That way they can use their collected and infinite wit and wisdom to finally bring peace to that part of the globe. *sniff* |
Posted by: Crusader 2007-10-22 18:26 |
#13 Brussels. The children there are used to them. |
Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-22 18:24 |
#12 I'm thinking Zimbabwe. |
Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-22 18:05 |
#10 Why ruin Iraq. It has a chance without the Useless Nonentities. |
Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-10-22 16:01 |
#9 Move UN headquarters to Baghdad. |
Posted by: Excalibur 2007-10-22 15:57 |
#8 Then a few months later there is an unfortunate 'work accident', involving the crossing of a red wire and a green wire, and the whole structure comes down. My thoughts precisely. |
Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-22 15:51 |
#7 Does it matter whether it's empty or not? Nothing good comes out of it either way. Turn it into a parking lot for the New Yorkers. |
Posted by: Xenophon 2007-10-22 14:34 |
#6 Super! A repository for all the asbestos we're required to remove from all the US buildings. |
Posted by: Mullah Richard 2007-10-22 14:32 |
#5 Ricky, I think I have an .mp3 of his testimony. What a hoot it was. If they need to empty the building, fine: move the diplomats to Geneva 'for the interim' (Dar-es-Salaam would be better, but we need to trick them into going). Then a few months later there is an unfortunate 'work accident', involving the crossing of a red wire and a green wire, and the whole structure comes down. By the time the UN gets the money and permissions for a new building they'll be so ensconed in Geneva it won't happen. |
Posted by: Steve White 2007-10-22 14:28 |
#4 IIRC, Donald Trump has claimed that he could do the entire renovation project for under $400M and still make a nice profit on the deal, even using union labor. He told a Congressional subcommittee that the insane pricetag the UN was floating was due to "two possible reasons" wink, wink, nudge, nudge. |
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2007-10-22 13:47 |
#3 Nah - let 'em back in, then drive 'em all mad by floating rumors about hidden cameras and microphones... |
Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-10-22 13:15 |
#2 Here's an idea. Tell 'em to screw and convert it to condos... |
Posted by: tu3031 2007-10-22 13:11 |
#1 "And don't come back!" |
Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-10-22 12:41 |