In
UN, Bed Bugs
Infestation
Clears Out
34th Floor,
ICP Exclusive
Again
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 23 -- The
UN has in the
past had bed
bugs in office
space it has
rented west of
First Avenue,
as Inner City
Press exclusively
reported on October
25, 2010 as to
the rented
Albano Building
on 46th
Street.
But now
on June 23,
2015, Inner
City Press has
been
exclusively
informed that
a high floor
of the UN's
own building,
the 34th, has
been evacuated
due to a
finding of bed
bugs there.
What is it
about the UN
and bugs, in
this case bed
bugs? We'll
have more on
this.
Back
on October 27,
2010, with bed
bugs having
been found and
then confirmed
in the
UN's
Capital Master
Plan office in
its
headquarters
building on
42nd
Street, as first
reported
by Inner City
Press on
October 25,
two days
later the UN
issued a
statement
trying to
minimize the
problem.
Spin,
it
seems, takes
precedence at
the UN over
solutions.
After
Inner City
Press' exclusive
October
25 report,
at the October
26 UN noon
briefing it
asked UN
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
what the UN
was doing.
Later that
afternoon
Nesirky's
office read a
short
statement over
the UN's
“squawk box”
system.
Inner
City Press
request to be
e-mailed a
copy of
Nesirky's
responses to
its questions
itself went
unresponded
to.
On
October 27,
Inner City
Press asked
Nesirky what
had happened
after
the UN found
bed bugs in
its 46th
Street Albano
Building in
September
2009, another
outbreak
exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press.
Nesirky
first said
that had been
“clover
mites,” then
acknowledged
that
characterization
applied to a
test done in
May
2010, not the
September 2009
incident Inner
City Press was
asking
about. See
list of
previous Inner
City Press
articles,
below.
UN's Ban,
Adlerstein,
Kane in North
Lawn: bugs'
next stop?
After
the October 27
noon briefing,
the UN issued
the following
written
statement:
In
September
2009,
a bed bug
sniffing dog
confirmed
infestation on
most
floors of the
Albano
building. The
whole building
was fumigated
on 19
September 2009
and repeated 2
weeks later.
As is standard
practice, 6
months later
on 6 May 2010
the dog
returned and
indicated the
presence of
bed bugs.
However, the
dog is not
able to
distinguish
between alive
and dead bed
bugs. As a
precautionary
measure the
whole
building was
fumigated the
weekend of 8,
9 May 2010. On
10 May 2010 a
staff member
reported the
presence of a
bed bug in the
office. The
contractor
examined the
bug and
identified it
to be a
“clover
mite”, which
is not harmful
to building,
furniture, or
humans.
Since the
fumigation in
September and
October last
year, one
staff
member advised
of a suspected
bed bug bite,
but the expert
advised
this was from
some other
insect. In
conclusion
there has been
no
confirmed bed
bug activity
in the Albano
building since
the
fumigations
last year.
Since
that
time,
as reported
recently in
the media, bed
bug
infestations
have been
found in many
public and
commercial
buildings
throughout
New York City
indicating a
worsening
problem. On 15
October 2010,
bed
bugs have also
been found in
furniture
which came
from the 19th
and
20th floors of
the
Secretariat
Building and
on 22 October
2010 in
furniture in
the 1B area of
the Library
Building. This
furniture has
been moved to
a part of the
building not
occupied by
staff to
facilitate
fumigation.
Two important
factors are
noted, firstly
that
the dogs are
not able to
distinguish
between bed
bugs that are
alive
and active or
dead and
secondly that
no staff or
building
occupants
have reported
being bitten.
We continue to
follow the
expert advice
of our
exterminator
specialist
making further
tests with the
bed bug
sniffing dog
to more fully
assess and
manage the
problem.
New
York,
27
Oct. 10
Some
of
Inner City
Press'
previous
reports:
At
UN,
Bed
Bugs But No
Medical
Service in the
Swing Space,
Skanska's
Closed Bid
Openings
http://www.innercitypress.com/uncmp6bedbugs091109.html
At
UN,
Bed
Bug
Infestation
Confirmed,
Spread to
General
Assembly by
Documents
Possible
http://www.innercitypress.com/uncmp7bedbugs091609.html
As
UN's
Bed
Bugs Spread,
Incoming
Diplomats
Warned of
Itching, No
Answers, Talk
of Gaddifi's
Tent
http://www.innercitypress.com/uncmp8bedbugs091809.html
UN
Confirms
"Extensive"
Bed Bugs,
Claims Missed
Them in Due
Diligence, GA
Next?
http://www.innercitypress.com/uncmp9bedbugs092209.html
http://www.innercitypress.com/un1bugbeep051210.html
http://www.innercitypress.com/cmp1shaaban051710.html
Watch
this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Bed
Bugs
Move to
Capital Master
Plan Office,
Raising Price
for Press
Returns
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October
25
-- Bed bug
infestation of
the UN's
Albano
Building
“swing space”
on 46th Street
was exposed
more than a
year ago by
Inner City
Press. An
impromptu Town Hall
meeting was
called, and UN
officials
assured the
staff that
everything
possible
would be done
to address the
bed bug
problem.
On
October
25
sources told
Inner City
Press that, in
fact, the bed
bug problem
has
spread, now to
the UN's own
Capital Master
Plan which is
in charge of
fixing up the
UN's building.
Inner City
Press went to
ask CMP
spokesman
Werner Schmidt
to confirm or
deny the
presence of
bed bugs
in CMP.
“Over
the
weekend
a bed bug
sniffing dog
checked our
office and
found [bed
bugs] in our
conference
rooms,”
Schmidt to his
credit
immediately
acknowledged.
He
said
“the
conference
room chairs
were taken
away”and that
FMS (the
Facilities
Management
Service) is
now in charge.
Back
in
May Inner City
Press reported
that
a
rift
had emerged
among senior
UN officials
about inaction
on
the bedbug
infestation.
In a memo
leaked
to Inner
City Press by
a
whistleblower,
Under
Secretary
General
Shaaban
Shaaban on May
11 wrote of
CMP chief
Michael
Adlerstein
that "In
my
meeting with
Mr. Adlerstein
five weeks
ago, I never
agreed that
the Albano
staff will be
stacked
there... So,
in the
stacking
proposal you
sent to Mr.
Nambiar on 4
May 2010... I
read in the
appendix twice
that 'based on
initial
consultations
with DGACM,
agreement has
been made to
retain the use
of the Albano
Building,'
which does not
reflect my
discussion
with Mr.
Adlerstein."
Now bed
bugs have been
found in
Adlerstein's
own CMP
Office.
UN's
Ban and
Adlerstein,
bed bugs and
changing rent
to press not
shown
Also
back in May,
Inner City
Press reported
that "the
memo
reveals
that Shaaban
has been told
that his
staff, of the
Department of
General
Assembly and
Conference
Management,
may not as
promised be
allowed to
return to
their offices
in UN
headquarters.
"The
UN
press
corps
has
been told this
as well. Their
spots on the
third and
fourth
floor, it now
appears, may
be given for
another use.
This would
leave
the press corp
in the
"whistleblower
free zone"
above the
Library,
where all
conversations
can be
heard...The
effect
would be to
drive smaller
and
more
independent
press out of
the UN, even
as the UN gets
less and
less press
coverage, and
fewer and
fewer
reporters
attend the UN
noon
briefing."
Five
months later,
the UN press
corps has now
been told that
the plan is,
even if they
return to the
third and
fourth floor,
they will for
the
first time be
charged rent.
They say this
UN
administration's
attempt to
disclipline or
even drive out
the
independent
press
continues.
Watch this
space.
* * *
At
UN,
of
Beepers
and Bed Bugs
in the Albano
Building,
Electronic
Sign
In
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
12
-- Months
after Inner
City Press exclusively
reported
that
bed
bugs
had been found
in portions of
the UN's
office space
in
the Albano
Building on
46th Street,
and the UN
belated
confirmed it,
the UN has
found that
there are
bugs on almost
all floors of
the building.
A notice was
sent out on
May 7,
provided to
Inner City
Press by a
whistleblower,
that
"Dear
Focal
points,
Please
be advised
that the
report came
back from the
exterminator
on the bed bug
follow up
inspection.
The
exterminator
reported that
the dog found
problems on
almost all
floors. The
reports says
90% of the
building had
problems. The
exterminator
will
be fumigating
the building
on Saturday 08
May 2010 from
9:00am
-9:00pm. No
staff are
allowed in the
building while
it is being
fumigated. All
staff are safe
to return to
the building
on Sunday
morning. Sorry
for the short
notice. If you
have any
questions
please
feel free to
call me.
Thanks, Brian
Hogan."
The
Albano
Building
houses, among
other things,
the UN's Text
Processing
Units. These
are
about to be
subject to an
electronic
sign in system
promoted by
Assistant
Secretary
General Franz
Baumann, who
tells Inner
City Press
that when he
was at the UN
in Vienna,
staff had no
problem with
this
system. Here
the Staff
Union -- both
factions --
have opposed
by
swipe in. But
Baumann is
pushing
forward, as
explained in
this recent
Q & A:
Inner
City
Press:
Can
you confirm or
deny you have
ordered the
text
processing
unit to
implement
electronic
sign-in,
despite
opposition
to it?
ASG
Baumann:
Nothing
has
been ordered.
But DGACM will
introduce the
kind
of
state-of-the
art electronic
time and
attendance
keeping system
which has been
successfully
implemented at
UNOV/UNODC
since 2003 to
much acclaim
from staff,
including the
Staff Union
there. So,
stay
tuned. In the
meantime, we
are discussing
details with
the staff and
the staff
representatives
of DGACM.
UN's Ban
swears in
Baumann, staff
shown, bugs
not
Inner City
Press
also asked
Baumann about
another
controversy
within the
Text
Processing
Unit(s)
Inner
City
Press:
Can
you confirm
and explain
that you now
expect all of
this in Text
Processing
Unit to have
(and pay for)
their own cell
phones, to
replace the
beeper system
you have
discontinued?
ASG
Baumann:
There
is
not one Text
Processing
Unit, but six.
Staff in
these, as in
other parts of
DGACM, are
expected on
occasion to be
on
stand-by - and
are
compensated
for this.
During such
stand-by
periods, staff
have to be
reachable,
whether on
their
home-phone or,
if they choose
to be away
from home, by
other means.
It is not a
contractual
requirement -
or a sensible
assumption in
this day and
age - for the
Organization
to pay for
this
reachability.
Pagers are
a - like Morse
Code or Telex
- a very
outdated
technology,
yet
expensive to
administer,
and their use
has indeed
been decided
to be
discontinued
by the DGACM
Departmental
Management
Group on the
advice
of its ICTC
Committed.
Several
DGACM
staff
complain
that
they do not
have a cell
phone, and
should not be
required by
the UN to get
one at their
own expense,
while others
even
having one do
not view this
as a
legitimate
demand by the
UN as
employer.
There are
other views.
But so it
goes.
Footnote:
The
most
independent
judge in the
UN's internal
justice system
has
been pressured
not to seek
re-appointment,
Inner City
Press is told.
Judge Adams,
who has issued
findings of
contempt
against the
administration
of Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, his USG
Shaaban
Shaaban
and others,
will some
staff are
saying hear
his last case
for the UN on
May 12. We
hope to be
there -- and
that it's not
true. Watch
this site.
Click here
for
an Inner City Press YouTube channel video,
mostly UN Headquarters
footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here
for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here
for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here
for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click here
for Feb.
12
debate
on
Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here
for Inner
City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here
for Inner
City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City
Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner
City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City
Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October
17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet
piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army.
Click here
for an earlier Reuters
AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000
contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis
here
Feedback:
Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN
Office:
S-453A,
UN, NY 10017
USA
Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's
mobile
(and
weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier
Inner
City Press are listed here,
and
some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08
Inner
City Press, Inc. To request
reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial
[at]
innercitypress.com -
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