Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

In UN Renovation, Stealth Long Leases and No Right to Return, Adlerstein's Rules

UNITED NATIONS, May 20 -- When the UN began its Capital Master Plan renovation, it rented office space into which staff from its Secretariat building would be temporarily relocated for the three years of construction. An entire structure on 46th Street, the Albano Building, was rented. Since then, as exclusively reported by Inner City Press, bedbugs have been found in the building, the elevators and often heating and air conditioning don't work.

  On May 20, Inner City Press asked CMP chief Michael Adlerstein about these problems, about a leaked memo, and to confirm that the UN has in fact rented the Albano Building for at least ten years, much longer than the construction project at the Secretariat.

  Did this mean that the UN staff in Albano, from the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management, would not have a "right to return" to their offices in the Secretariat? By implication, would the press corps not return to the third and fourth floor, but perhaps remain in the "whistleblower free zone" in the cubicles over the UN library? Video here, from Minute 32:05.

  Adlerstein confirmed that the lease the UN signed on the Albano Building is for at least ten years, and that it is not certain that DGACM staff will return to the Secretariat. There are discussions, he said, with every Under Secretary General, which will be resolved in thirty to sixty days.

  As to the press corp, Adlerstein first said that there would be a right to return, somewhere between the first and seventh floors. Video here, from Minute 48:39. After more questioning, he said the press would return to the third and fourth floors. Video here, from Minute 55:35.

Adlerstein said that most equipment in the Albano building is new, and therefore should work. He said the elevators might have to be replaced. While he did not address the bedbugs, he alluded to a town hall meeting that Inner City Press has asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about. (Transcript is below.)

Inner City Press learned, not from the UN spokesperon's office but meeting participants, that during the session it was admitted that the UN signed a contract with cleaners that had no provision for recycling. Staff asked for bike racks, including under a New York City law. In fact, the question of inadequate bike racks at the Secretariat building has been raised of late to Spokesman Nesirky, who says he has spoken with USG Kane. We'll see.

  Inner City Press has asked Adlerstein's CMP office how long the leases at the Teachers and Innovation Luggage swing space buildings are, and will report the answers later. An official of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions approached Inner City Press later on Thursday and expressed concern about the "stealth" long lease on the Albano Building, adding that he's heard the CMP is over budget. Adlerstein says he'll report in the Fall. Again, we'll see.

   Adlerstein on Thursday mentioned the creation of a CMP Advisory Committee. While little has been said of this new body, a UN photo (below) shows its leader, Kent Barwick. What do he and the other undepicted members think of the long leases and the right to return?

UN's Ban, Kane and Adlerstein and Kent Barwick, advise on right to return not shown

Footnote: after his press conference, Adlerstein accompanied four reporters including Inner City Press to the space outside the Security Council, which in April was contested regarding where the press could and could not go.

Adlerstein apparently never heard how it was resolved. He said to Inner City Press, not joking, that "I don't want to be giving prerogatives for you to be wandering around just because I'm here. It's an abuse of the invitation to come here and understand your needs...not to give you an opportunity to wander around. I do feel it's abusive."

But where Inner City Press was walking is an area permitted to the Press. Apparently Adlerstein thinks or wishes it were not so -- for the three, or five, or is it ten years, it's Adlerstein's UN. Given what Robert Moses did with unaccountable public authorities, one wag could only imagine what will be done with an immune international body.

   Adlerstein was asked to "take down this wall" to allow greater transparency as to who is entering the Security Council. I can't promise anything, he responded. Why are we not surprised? We will continue to follow the CMP -- watch this site.

From the UN's May 19 transcript:

Inner City Press: you never got back to me on the Albano building. I understand there was a town hall meeting yesterday about not only bedbugs but various construction problems within the building. There was some criticism of Skanska’s performance and Ms. [Angela] Kane and a number of them participated. And they also had said that the Albano building has been leased for 10 years, even though the rehab here is supposed to only take five. I am just wondering, I mean, I can break this down into questions, or I am wondering if, following the memo that came out of Mr.Shaaban Shaaban, do you have anything on this? Is there a UN description of why these staff concerns are misplaced?

Spokesman Nesirky: Actually, to the contrary, staff concerns are taken extremely seriously. I know that there was indeed a staff meeting, a town hall meeting — however you would like to describe it. I do not have a readout from that and I am sure that we can get something on that.

Inner City Press: Some people working there, they said that when they moved to Albano they thought they would be returning to the Secretariat building where they always worked, and that they have now essentially been told that they will stay in Albano even after the building is fixed. So this is obviously, and I know in the press corps not to get too… there are some concerns that the press will remain above the library and never return to the third or fourth floor. Who is actually making the decisions of how space will be allocated in the building when it is fixed?

Spokesman Nesirky: Let’s find out. I do not know the specific answer to that. Some of these matters could indeed be raised with Mr. Alderstein tomorrow, although, obviously, he has a mandate to fix the building rather than to allocate space after that.

Inner City Press: To the degree that he can’t answer about this, what they are calling restacking or how space will be allocated, maybe Ms. Kane could come or give another briefing.

Spokesperson: Let’s find out what we can do. I fully appreciate the interest that there is in the building and the virtual headquarters that is across different parts of Manhattan at the moment.