United Nations Headquarters: How to Visit in New York

Every year more than a million visitors come to the United Nations headquarters in New York, in Manhattan's Midtown East. What happens at the UN concerns most countries on the planet, after all.

Then there's the architectural value of the building, designed collaboratively by a group of well-known architects, among them Brazil's Oscar Niemeyer.

Guided tours of the UN

Visiting the UN headquarters in New York is something everyone should do at least once. Highly recommended (and for the best views of the building, head to Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island).

You'll get to see the most important chambers of the United Nations on the guided tours offered daily.

You'll walk through a building with enormous symbolic and practical weight for the world. Decisions made here every day affect the whole planet.

Inside, the atmosphere is thoroughly international. It feels like stepping out of the United States for a while and into somewhere else entirely.

You'll see dignitaries and officials from every country coming and going. You can feel that important things are happening.

What to see at the United Nations

The United Nations headquarters in New York is a complex of buildings.

Most of the tour takes place in the Secretariat Tower (the 38-story marble-clad building you see in the photo).

You'll also step into the huge General Assembly Hall and the Security Council Chamber.

As you make your way through the building you'll see works of art donated by each of the member countries.

There's even a piece of twisted metal from the nuclear explosions in Japan, a reminder of the brutality of war.

How long does the United Nations tour last?

UN tours last about an hour, and you can either join a guide (Spanish-language tours available) or go at your own pace with an audio guide.

Keep in mind that high-level meetings can close the building to the general public without notice.

Where does the tour start?

You enter the Visitors Center through the entrance on First Avenue at 46th Street in Manhattan.

History of the United Nations building

Since it was an extraterritorial, international organization, in the late 1940s it was decided that the design of the United Nations headquarters would be entrusted to a committee of architects from different nations.

The idea was to embody the multicultural, unifying spirit of the UN.

The design process

American architect Wallace Harrison (who designed Rockefeller Center and coordinated the design of Lincoln Center) was put in charge of leading the group of architects who would design the building.

The process he set up worked like this: each participant would submit at least one proposal, then all of them would be discussed together until they reached a consensus final design. Something like an architectural brainstorm.

The competition

In practice, it turned into less of a collaboration and more of a brutal contest of egos, with over 50 proposals fighting to come out on top.

Among the «competitors» were the famous French architect Le Corbusier and his Brazilian protégé Oscar Niemeyer.

Given Le Corbusier's international fame, he always had the upper hand, and Niemeyer was the only one who managed to push back.

Le Corbusier and Niemeyer, the winners

In the end, the winning design was indeed Le Corbusier's proposal, Scheme 23A, though with significant modifications by Niemeyer.

Another version of the story says the final project was really Niemeyer's, and that it only saw the light of day after Wallace Harrison convinced Le Corbusier that Niemeyer's work was nothing more than an imitation of his own ideas, so he had won anyway.

PS: I'm writing this post in tribute to Oscar Niemeyer, on the very day of his death

-o-

Address:
First Avenue, between 42nd and 48th Streets, Manhattan

Getting there
Subway lines 4, 5, 6, 7. Grand Central station

Prices:
Adults $22
Students and 60+ $15
Ages 5-12 $13
Children under 5 are not admitted

Guided tour hours
Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm
Closed 1/2 / 2/20 / Good Friday / Memorial Day / 7/4 / 8/20 /
Thanksgiving / 12/25

More information about tours on the official website.

Weekends
Lobby, shop and Visitors Center access only (free), except during January and February.
10am to 4:30pm