United Nations
Manhattan
On the East River side of First Avenue, between 42nd and 48th Streets in Turtle Bay, the United Nations headquarters occupies 17 to 18 acres.
- 0.04 square miles
- 3 street corners
- 3 bus routes
The UN officially began on October 24, 1945, and in December 1946 John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had paid for this riverfront land, donated it to the organization. A board of architects, with final designs by Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, began work in 1947; construction started in 1948, the UN moved into the Secretariat Building in 1951, and the complex was declared complete in 1952. Visitors enter at First Avenue and 46th Street for guided tours of the complex.
Sources: Headquarters of the United Nations (Wikipedia); History of the United Nations (United Nations); Visitors Services New York (United Nations).
United Nations borders two areas.
- United Nations
- A neighboring area
- Park
Neighborhood areas and streets: NYC Department of City Planning. Parks: NYC Parks. Stations: MTA.
Neighboring areas
- East Midtown-Turtle Bay north
- Murray Hill-Kips Bay southwest
Getting around
Buses on three routes stop in or at the edge of United Nations.
- 3 local bus routes
Local bus routes
- M15
- M15-SBS
- M42
Safety record
Between 2021 and 2025, its corners averaged fewer police-reported crashes than the average Manhattan corner.
- 31 police-reported crashes at its corners
- 10.3 a corner, on average
- 13.4 the average Manhattan corner
Signal or safety changes on City record, at two of its corners
- Leading pedestrian intervals
- 2
Camera tickets
In 2025 the Department of Finance recorded no red-light, school-zone speed or bus-lane camera ticket at its corners.
Streets and trees
- Trees
- 12 in NYC Parks' records, most often London planetree, dawn redwood and Japanese flowering cherry
Public art
The City's public art inventory lists one work in United Nations: Raoul Wallenberg Monument (1998).
- 1 work of public art
Street corners
How the figures above are measured: Methodology.