Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, General; the United Nations, Volume I

501.AD/5–2246

The Under Secretary of State (Acheson) to the Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion (Snyder)

Washington, May 22, 1946.

My Dear Mr. Snyder: I refer to the President’s letter of May 18³⁶ asking you to assume a coordinating responsibility with respect to Federal assistance in the establishment of temporary headquarters of the United Nations in New York.

This is a critical situation accompanied by severe criticism of the alleged failure of the Federal Government to grant the assistance which, as the host State, it should have accorded.

I enclose a memorandum giving the necessary background on the situation and outlining some of the problems that may be anticipated. Immediate action is required with regard to:

1. Prompt approval of necessary construction projects and the granting of priorities for materials involved in reconversion of the Sperry Gyroscope Plant at Lake Success, Nassau County, Long Island, the New York City Building at the World’s Fair Grounds, Flushing Meadows, and construction of a 550 unit housing project at Jamaica, Long Island.

2. Making available to the United Nations for the purpose of temporary housing of members of the Secretariat between now and approximately May 1, 1947, Fort Totten at Bayside, Long Island, now occupied by an ATC unit.

3. Providing necessary equipment for the maintenance of adequate transportation facilities between residential centers, the Sperry Gyroscope Plant, and Flushing Meadows.

The other Federal agencies which seem to be involved in this matter are the War Department, Navy Department, Civilian Production Administration, National Housing Administration, Public Buildings Administration, War Assets Corporation, and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

I suggest that you designate a member of your staff to take general charge of this operation. Mr. John C. Ross and his associate, Mr. I. N. P. Stokes, have been given the responsibility in the Department for following all matters relating to the headquarters of the United Nations and they will be glad to furnish all possible assistance. I suggest that whoever is to act for you in this matter get in touch with them.

Sincerely yours,

[Dean Acheson]

[Annex]

Memorandum

Subject: Assistance to United Nations-Temporary Headquarters

Background

1. The General Assembly of the United Nations voted on February 14, 1946 to establish the interim headquarters of the United Nations in New York City pending final decision concerning the location of permanent headquarters. At the same time it was determined that the permanent headquarters should be in Westchester County, New York, and/or Fairfield County, Connecticut, but this decision is subject to reconsideration as explained below in paragraph 9.

2. In view of the fact that the United Nations Security Council was scheduled to reconvene in New York on March 21, representatives of the Secretary General decided on March 6 that the facilities immediately available at Hunter College in the Bronx would best suit the needs of the United Nations for temporary headquarters. Construction was started immediately, Secretariat offices were installed at Hunter, and the Security Council held its first meeting as scheduled on March 21. Since then the Security Council has continued to use these facilities, the Secretariat has expanded its staff to a total of approximately 800 and various commissions and committees have used the Hunter facilities for meeting purposes.

3. During the month of April it rapidly became apparent that the Hunter College facilities would be inadequate for the needs of the United Nations. The Secretary General, Mr. Trygve Lie, is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and clearly has the responsibility and the authority to decide the best location within the New York City area for location of the temporary headquarters and to make all necessary physical arrangements. The Secretary General, after consultation with New York City authorities and other interested groups has now decided that the Secretariat offices, meeting rooms for the Security Council, Economic and Social Council, commissions and committees should be located at the Sperry Gyroscope Plant, Lake Success, Nassau County, Long Island, and that the United Nations Assembly should meet in the New York City Building at the World’s Fair Grounds, Flushing Meadows, Long Island. The next meeting of the Assembly is scheduled for September 3; the Security Council will remain in continuous session; other Councils, commissions and committees will continue to meet periodically. It is intended that office space for the various delegations to the United Nations will also be provided as required at the Sperry Plant.

4. It would probably be generally agreed that the arrangement described in Paragraph 3 is not an ideal one. Both the Sperry Plant and the New York City Building are some miles distant from Manhattan and from each other, and transportation will be a very difficult problem particularly since many of the delegations will maintain their office and residence headquarters in Manhattan. There will also be a number of difficult operating problems resulting from the physical separation of parts of the whole United Nations organization. Housing for members of the Secretariat and of the delegations will also be a very difficult problem but this problem would exist regardless of location.

5. On the other hand there are substantial advantages in the selection of the Sperry-Flushing Meadows location. For one thing the Sperry Plant is very modern and readily adaptable to use for offices and meeting rooms with large possibilities for expansion as may be required. The New York City Building at Flushing Meadows lends itself very well for adaptation as a large Assembly meeting hall without substantial cost to the United Nations. On the whole, careful investigation indicates that the Secretary General’s decision is the wisest one that could have been made in a very difficult situation.

6. This decision having been made, Secretariat and more particularly city authorities have been severely critical of the failure of the Federal Government to assist adequately in making this decision effective so that it would be possible to establish the United Nations in the new location on an operating basis before the Assembly meeting on September 3. The city authorities have obligated the city to spend more than $2,000,000 in preparing the Flushing Meadows buildings for the General Assembly, and in many other ways, with particular reference to housing, they are making outstanding efforts to achieve the desired results. However, a week ago the city reached the conclusion that they simply could not undertake the obligations involved without assurance on two points: first, that the Federal Government would get behind the project and assist in every way possible and, second, that all parties concerned would agree that the arrangements contemplated would stand for a three-year interim period subject to renewal for an additional two years.

[Here follows summary of exchange between Mr. Stettinius and President Truman.]

36. No letter dated May 18 has been found in the Department files. The carbon (blue) copy of a proposed letter dated May 17 is attached to a memorandum to the President from the Acting Secretary (Acheson) (also dated May 17) (501.AD/5–1746). Presumably the text of this copy is the same as that actually sent to Mr. Snyder on May 18. In it President Truman, after setting forth the text of his telegram of May 14 to Mr. Stettinius, informed Mr. Snyder: “These arrangements will include the granting of priorities for materials, the making available of physical facilities controlled by the Federal Government, and such other steps as may be necessary not only to provide the United Nations with adequate office space, conference rooms, assembly hall and other facilities to be used by it, but also to assure adequate housing and transportation for members of the Secretariat and the delegations of the Member Nations.

    “In case of any differences of opinion as to the appropriate steps to be taken, I request you to exercise, by the issuance in your discretion of appropriate directives, the full powers which have been delegated to you under applicable statutes and executive orders. In any case where, in your opinion, action should be taken by any officials of the Federal Government in this matter which they are unwilling to take and which you are not authorized to direct, I would appreciate your bringing the matter to my attention for decision.”

    Relevant documentation regarding the implementation of this cooperative effort at different levels in Washington and New York is found in File No. 501.AD.