The United Nations headquarters is a distinctive complex in New York City that has served as the United Nations's headquarters since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood, on the east side of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River.
The complex includes three major buildings: the Secretariat (the 39-floor office tower), the General Assembly building (where all member nations of the United Nations meet in the UN General Assembly), and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. It is also notable for its gardens and outdoor sculpture.
The site of the United Nations Headquarters is considered international territory, which means local laws do not apply. In addition, many of the diplomats working there have diplomatic immunity and so cannot be prosecuted by local courts. In the 1990s, however, the New York City government took steps to force diplomats to abide by local laws when living and traveling outside the UN headquarters, especially those concerning parking tickets and drunk driving.
The land for the headquarters was donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The United Nations Headquarters was designed by a team of 11 architects headed by Wallace K. Harrison and Le Corbusier. Work on the complex was begun in 1947 and completed in 1952, although the Dag Hammarskjöld Building was added in 1961.
Proposed Alternatives
Prior to the choice of the site in New York City, Navy Island in Ontario, Canada was proposed as an alternative headquarters for the United Nations. An international committee pitched the site as the "World Peace Capital" over 1945 and 1946. The island was considered to be an ideal location as it lay on the boundary of two peaceful bordering countries. It was proposed that Navy Island would be ceded to the United Nations as long as the headquarters remained, and to revert to the Canadian government should the U.N. move. The proposal was ultimately turned down in favour of the current site in New York City.
The UN was founded after the end of World War II by the victorious allied powers with the hope that it would act to prevent and intervene in conflicts between nations and make future deadly wars impossible or limited, by fostering an ideal compromised of collective security.
As the UN main building is aging, the UN is in the process of building a temporary headquarters designed by Fumihiko Maki on First Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets for use while the current building is being expanded.
UN peacekeepers are sent to various regions where armed conflict has recently ceased, in order to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage the combatants from resuming hostilities, for example in East Timor until its independence in 2001.
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