"Renovation of U.N. Complex Stalled by U.S., an Official Says"

Read the full article by WARREN HOGE in The New York Times (April 18, 2006). (Free registration required.)

"The director of the $1.6 billion plan to restore the aging and dilapidated headquarters of the United Nations said Monday that persistent objections from the United States were causing delays in meeting deadlines and jeopardizing the future of the entire project.....

" Before taking on the remodeling task in 2001, Mr. Reuter was responsible for the $1 billion rebuilding of New York/Weill Cornell Medical Center over the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. He said the absence of American agreement was resulting in rising costs and disillusioning the team of experts he had assembled for the task.

"'I won't kid you that we're not frustrated that this is being delayed and that the building is not getting healthier,' he said. 'We are very near consensus, and we are having issues not only with cost increases but also brain drain. There is a lot of other work out there going on in New York.'.........

"John R. Bolton, the American ambassador, said Monday that the United States had offered $23.5 million but was not convinced that the larger amount was needed at the moment."