Maintaining U.N. Headquarters

The thirty-nine storey white marble and green-tinted glass Secretariat building by the East River in New York City has become a well-known New York landmark. It is part of a complex of buildings consisting of the General Assembly, three council chambers, fourteen conference rooms, a library building, underground garage accommodations and extensive gardens which together make up the United Nations Headquarters. Constructed largely of stainless steel, aluminium and glass, it contains the offices and working areas for some 3,000 International Secretariat members, with a daily influx of approximately 3,500 visitors and, during the General Assembly time, some two thousand delegation members and observers.

To keep the buildings in good condition 24 hour maintenance schedule is necessary. This is provided by a corps of cleaners working at night and during the day, a staff of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, gardeners and repairers.

Many of the curtains at UN Headquarters are unusually long and a special scaffolding is used to handle them. Shown here are two repairmen working on the tracks of the forty foot long handwoven natural wool curtains, a gift from Denmark, hanging in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. All curtains and draperies in the building are made-up and fitted by the UN upholsterers.