Delegates Go to Town in a City Within a City

When world leaders emerged en masse from their limousines and entered the United Nations on Wednesday to begin the Millennium Summit, Secretary-General Kofi Annan greeted each dignitary with a warm word or a quick anecdote--befitting the politically savvy mayor of a small city.

Most people forget that the United Nations is a city within New York, with its own police force, printing plant, school, art gallery, restaurants, library, television and radio station, and culture.

It also is a city badly in need of maintenance--a section of ceiling in the delegates’ lounge fell Monday--and facing a severe space crunch.

The fine art of summitry is being practiced by heads of state and government in rows of plain secretarial cubicles in the basement, spiffed up with Oriental rugs, coffee tables and scraggly plants. Not enough room exists for the more than 700 one-on-one meetings that are planned.

Adding to the pressure were treaty signings scheduled every 20 minutes. Leaders of 24 countries put pens to paper on the first day of the summit to sign such conventions as the Rights of the Child and the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, as well as treaties on the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and on the Suppression of Financing for Terrorism.

It was Diplomacyville’s big day--part college mixer and part commuter crush.

At one point, King Harald V of Norway looked a bit bewildered at the sea of unfamiliar faces.

“Hi, I’m the king of Norway,” he said, introducing himself.

Annan, as usual, was the perfect host, mingling graciously and breaking the ice. He may be the secretary-general of the world organization, but his performance would have gladdened the heart of local politicians anywhere.

Annan presides over more than 4,500 employees at U.N. headquarters along the East River in Manhattan. The world body’s police force alone--170 strong--is bigger than that of many U.S. municipalities.

“It’s a small town,” said Martha Lugo, who works in the pension section and is secretary of the U.N. bicycle club.

Her comments are widely echoed.

“Singles may find that one way of meeting the significant other is to get on skis,” said an article in Secretariat News, the headquarters staff magazine. “Recently, two legal unions took place between members who met on the slopes.”

Like many small towns, there are clubs galore spanning the alphabet from astrology to yachting.

The domino club meets daily behind closed doors in a room deep in the second basement. “We’re noisy and contentious, and we didn’t want to disturb the staff,” the club president told the staff magazine.

With five restaurants, the U.N. rivals the number of eateries in many small towns.

On Wednesday, buffet gridlock occurred in the delegates’ dining room on the second floor of the Secretariat Building.

“While security makes it a pain to get into this U.N. lunch-only restaurant, surveyors find dining here a knockout, citing the people-watching, generous buffet and gorgeous view,” praised the Zagat restaurant guide, while adding a caveat that the food’s quality depends on which member nation is providing the guest chefs on a given day.

The U.N. has a chapel, plumber, local locksmith, sanitation force, a bank and a post office selling commemorative stamps.

Business was slow Wednesday at the post office but brisk at nearby shops in the basement.

Among the gifts purchased by Mary Flake de Flores, the wife of Honduran President Carlos Flores, were a pen and a paperweight. Jewelry also was selling nicely.

Longtime staffers say the headquarters is a friendly place where people know each other and business often is conducted over coffee in the delegates’ lounge.

Once a year, members of the U.N. community and their families venture out of their small town in an organized way to spend a day in the country meeting Americans. Last year, staffers visited Westport, Conn., where the locals organized swimming, hiking, golf, boating, soccer and other activities.

Nane Annan, the secretary-general’s wife, thanked the townspeople for their hospitality and said a good time had been had by all.