Feed

United Nations

By Daniel Edward Rosen 1/24 12:30pm

Crime and Punishment

Andrew_Roos_6_KK

Parole Denied for Former Assistant at GVA Williams

An administrative assistant at GVA Williams who was convicted of swindling $3 million from former company executive Andrew Roos over the course of nine years was denied parole earlier this month, The Commercial Observer has learned.

Agnes Dickinson, 59, was ordered to continue her up-to-13-year prison sentence at a Jan. 12 parole board hearing, according to the New York State Department of Corrections. She has been incarcerated at the Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan since 2008, shortly after being convicted of grand larceny, forgery and money laundering.

"After a review of the record and interview, the panel has determined that, if released at this time, there is a reasonable probability that you would not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law, and your release would be incompatible with the welfare of society," the parole ruling reads.  Read More

1 By Emerald Pellot 11/08/11 5:45pm

Sustainable Energy for the Rock Show

Linkin Park and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon partner in “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative”

Today the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced his plan to enact a new “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative” at the UN Headquarters. The proposal naturally included the two-time Grammy-winning rock band Linkin Park. (Yes, that's right. Linkin Park)

A cynical eye might dismiss the group’s philanthropy as another jump onto the “celebrities save Haiti” bandwagon. However, the band’s foundation, Music for Relief, has had its hand in a vast array of humanitarian efforts since its formation in 2004. (We suppose we can set aside any notions of the band capitalizing on altruism for notoriety.) After all do you even know what any of these guys look like? The band has sold over 50 million records, but largely remain out of the public eye. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 10/19/11 7:02pm

Starchitects

UNProject_1

U.N. Architects Back to the Drawing Board; Pritzker Winner Still on Board

The United Nations has a long tradition of employing the world's finest architects.

The original Secretariat complex was the work of Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, two of the most revered designers ever to pick up a T-square. DC-1 and DC-2, the 1976 expansion of the campus better known as U.N. Plaza, was designed by Kevin Roche, builder of many New York towers and heir to the throne of Eero Saarinen.

In 2002, when it came time to plan for a new tower to house this globetrotting workforce, the United Nations Development Corporation, the city agency that handles all U.N. property, held a competition. It was open only to Pritzker Prize winners, and Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki was selected in 2004. Not long after, the project ran into political hurdles and was put on hold, but earlier this month Albany, the city and the U.N. reached a deal so the project can move forward. Almost as soon as the ink had dried on the land swap, Mr. Maki and his local partners, FXFowle, unrolled their blueprints and got back to work. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 10/11/11 11:00pm

Greensward

Idyllic. (Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Park Life: The East Side’s Landless Gentry Fight for Every Scrap of Open Space

Think of the perfect Saturday on the East Side. Brunch with your friends and the kids at, say, Fig & Olive, Artisinal or—the mayor’s favorite—Viand. Maybe a stroll along Madison for a little shopping and errands, and then off to Central Park to let the little ones wear themselves out before a nap. Or maybe it’s the other way around, soccer and softball in the park, a little tennis with friends or just some sunning on one of the lawns, then a late lunch.

Living East of Eden sure can be nice, but just like Adam and Eve, it always seems like there is more outside the garden gates.

Not satisfied with their proximity to one of the loveliest parks in the world, East Siders have been lobbying for decades for more leisure land, particularly along the river. They look jealously on at their West Side brethren, with Riveside Park and Hudson River Park—and even the green shoots along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront. Thanks to rampant development, from Robert Moses’ FDR Drive up through the Bloomberg Building on 59th and Lexington, the East Side has grown more crowded every day, and yet access to the water, a mere mile away, has been all but impossible. Read More

1 By The Editors 10/05/11 9:58am

opinion

New York’s East Side Land Swap

If you heard people at the United Nations talking about a land deal, you might assume that they were referencing a plan to bring peace to some troubled region in the world. But the land deal in question is playing out on the peaceful banks of the East River. And it’s a good thing.

Folks at the U.N. have been gazing longingly at a humble, one-acre playground named for Robert Moses just south of its headquarters. They’d like very much to build a new building on the site, at First Avenue and 41st Street. In the meantime, the city has been trying to figure out how to pay for the completion of a greenway along the East Side waterfront.

In the finest traditions of diplomacy, there may be a deal on the table that will benefit all parties. Read More

11 By Rex Reed 8/02/11 7:32pm

movies

Weisz.

The Whistleblower Reveals a Truth More Chilling than Fiction

To the short list of this year’s must-see movies, quickly add The Whistleblower—the harrowing true story of Kathy Bolkovac, a disillusioned Nebraska cop and divorced single mother who uncovered a horrifying underground network of human slave traffic in 1999 postwar Bosnia protected by both the American military and high-ranking officials of the Read More
By Reid Pillifant 2/10/10 5:16pm

Construction Gives Rise to Gallows Humor at the U.N.

While the iconic United Nations building undergoes a $1.9 billion dollar renovation, some of its most important offices—including that of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon—have moved into a drab, three-story corrugated aluminum box.

"The morale among the people in the secretary general's office has never been lower," one U.N. official transferred to the new building told Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 1/04/10 10:40pm

The Ambassador

Say what you will about dictatorships-human rights abuses, censorship and religious intolerance, for starters-they do make for truly fantastic tenants.

The unconventional wisdom is but one lesson real estate broker Gil Robinov has learned in a 40-year career that has put him in close proximity to monarchies and autocratic governments, from Egypt and Iran Read More

By Steve Cohen 10/09/09 4:42pm

The Persistence of Hope

Barack Obama’s Presidency is less than a year old, and he has already found himself on the roller coaster ride of American politics, media and celebrity. It must have been a pleasant surprise to wake to the news on October 9th that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. While it will be derided Read More

By Joe Pompeo 4/21/09 11:02pm

A Global Disgrace

It was billed as a United Nations conference on racism, but few thoughtful people were fooled by the packaging. What’s going on in Geneva this week is nothing less than a forum for Israel’s enemies, who soil the noble efforts of legitimate anti-racists with their hated-filled screeds.

It goes without saying that the United States was Read More

By Steve Cohen 11/20/08 3:02pm

Food for the Holidays

On November 19 Columbia University and the Manhattan Borough President's Office held a conference on The Politics of Food. The half-day conference was devoted to one of New York City's biggest challenges: ensuring that the public has ready access to high-quality food. Speakers included Columbia President Lee Bollinger, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, New York Read More