UN
Closes
Day Care on Two Day Notice, Offers Gender Entity Post to
Rwandan
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 22 -- As the UN talks about establishing a new "Gender
Entity," offering the top post first to Chile's Michelle Bachelet
and now a Rwandan minister, Inner City Press is told, it has this
month unceremoniously eliminated the after school day care it for
years had offered to staff.
"It's
hypocrisy,"
says one impacted working mother. "They talk
about work life balance and advancing women, then cut this program on
only two days' notice."
The
day care, in
the UN Secretariat building, was discontinued on June
18.
The impacted parent only learned of it on June 16, too late to
put up a fight. The rationale is that with the UN's renovation, the
day care could only continue out in the "real" New York
west of 1st Avenue, where permits would be required.
UN's Ban and Ms. Bachelet, closure of UN day care not shown
On June 22 the
UN posted this notice on its intranet:
After-school
recreation
and study programme for United Nations children Posted:
Tuesday, 22 June 2010, New York | Author: Department of Management
Because
the UN
Secretariat building is currently a construction zone, it is not
possible to house the After-school Recreation and Study Programme on
the premises due to lack of available space. Therefore, we regret to
announce, ST/IC/2010/17, that we are not in a position to offer the
Programme as of the end of the 2009/2010 school year, and we regret
any inconvenience that this will cause to parents.
If we
were to move
the Programme to a rented building, we would be subject to New York
City laws and code compliance. In reality, this means that the
children participating in the Programme would have to be housed
preferably on the ground floor, but not above the third floor. The
child care space would also have to meet a number of other code
requirements including certain exit criteria and access to play
areas. Such a space is not available at this time. In addition, the
operator of this service would have to be fully licensed and
certified.
Several
readers
found the UN's admission that has been below code compliance, and
less safe than certified, strange. They point out, for example, that
in the UN's DC-1 building on 44th Street and 1st Avenue there is a
barely used room next to the third floor cafeteria. "They just
don't think this is important," the working mother said. "And
yet they're naming a new Gender Entity." She laughed, but
bitterly. Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Adlerstein as "Slumlord," Forced Relocation in the End,
Ceiling Collapse Confirmed, Asbestos Denied but not Tested
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 28, updated -- Alongside the sealing off of the UN
Conference
Building, a new ceiling collapse in the General Assembly basement and
relentlessly upbeat storytelling by the UN about happy staffers and
even reporters in their new swing space, as in many refugee
situations it all comes down to force.
The
chief of the UN
Capital Master Plan Michael Adlerstein has written:
"In
the
event that you do not pack your materials as requested,
we
will
arrange for your material to be packed and relocated to the Alcoa
space during the weekend of 29-31 May 2010. In either event,
telephone and computer connections will be relocated ... this
weekend, and the locks will be changed at your old office in the
Secretariat on Friday night. On Tuesday morning June 1, you will not
be allowed to enter your former offices."
Unlike
anywhere
else
in New York or most real estate situation, there is no
possibility of appeal or any outside review. "It's like a threat
from a slumlord," one reader of the letter told Inner City
Press.
Adlerstein's
letter
reflects that Information Technology staff are, in fact,
remaining in the Secretariat high rise. It is unclear when they will
be moved to the basement of the North Lawn building.
Downstairs
in
the
basement, workers at UN Television report they will be moved upstairs
"to where Verbatim used to be" -- that is, the Department
of General Assembly and Conference Management staff who were moved to
the bedbug ridden Albano Building swing space will not be coming
back.
Moving, like it or not: garbage cart, Adlerstein as
locksmith not shown
A
series of CMP
related questions have been sent this morning to the spokespeople for
the Secretary General and for the CMP, including about yet another
ceiling collapse in the General Assembly lobby, the reported charging
of admission to see a film inside the UN, frozen and missing video
monitors and the future of the US Post Office inside the UN. Watch
this site.
Update
of
1 p.m. -- from the UN, on one of eight questions:
Subject:
response
to your first question from CMP
From: UN Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
Date:
Fri, May 28, 2010 at 12:09 PM
To: Inner City Press
1.
There
is another ceiling collapse in front of the gift shop, in the
public area of the UN.? Has the UN done testing to confirm that there
is not asbestos being released in the vicinity of visitors, including
children?? When were the tests done, and will the UN make them
available?
Response:
Approximately
10 sf of plaster have fallen down near the Gift Shop.
The plaster in that area had to be replaced a few times before due to
a recurring leakage problem. This plaster does not contain asbestos.
To
be continued.
* * *
, 
