Clearing The Way (1950s)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I'd like to tell you what this is all about if you don't mind it's a very exciting story which concerns all of us it takes place here in Manhattan New York USA now you've all seen Manhattan in reality or in hundreds of films and our story place right in the middle of it here to be exact between 42nd street and 48th Street between the East River and First Avenue you know when I first started working on this project the whole Planning and Building of the United Nations Headquarters was a big engineering problem for me then I got to know this neighborhood a little better these six blocks we had to clear and I discovered they were full of life and quite different from the Manhattan we know from the movies a [Music] [Music] [Music] what's this going to be a fence can't you see a fence what for to keep you Fullers and girls out to keep us out we've been here for years so our playground you hear that he's going to take [Music] our I'm sorry but in 3 weeks time this place is going to be as flat as a pancake [Music] come [Music] oh [Music] Mar no the Second Avenue boys VI you H this is real serious that is a pain if your kids knew that would happened I told you about it and about the United Nations oh let them keep through our United Nations we want our playground back yeah what do we need a United Nations here for anyway keep people from with with each other you know like the old Indian Peace pip I get it it's like trying to bury the hatchet of course I'm an old timer I won't see the benefits of it but your kids will I hope all right but can't they go somewhere else I think it's a great honor for us yeah but what they pick on our block for uh well it's a long story I guess they didn't just pick it out of a per I should say not they had the whole world to choose from and they took plenty of time deciding excuse me for barging in but maybe I can help you see I was in San Francisco in 1945 when the charter was signed and also 6 months later in London at church house when the general assembly met for the first time when the delegates finally voted for the United States then the real search began should the headquarters be built in some Country Place like Westchester County or Philadelphia or San Francisco most people liked the idea of having United Nations around but some people kicked meanwhile the Secretariat moved first the war plant out of Long Island 20 M from New York City and rather crowded the general assembly also found a temporary meeting place in one of the buildings left over from the New York World's Fair that was being used as a skating rink but why do they have to pick on us yes why have to take our PL yeah [Music] well in December 1946 when the delegates couldn't seem to agree on whether to go to Boston or Philadelphia or San Francisco or to accept New York's permanent gift of Flushing Meadows how do you know this because I'm a simultaneous interpreter with the United Nations a what a Sim well that explains everything then Mr Rockefeller helped out with these six blocks here where you had your playground the deal was signed and the six blocks were solidly turned over to the United Nations [Music] the people of the city of New York convey to the peoples of the world a small plot of land however on that small plot of land decisions will be made which will shape the destiny of the world the people of New York City more than 7 and a half million inhabitants of all Races Creeds and National Origins reflect in their daily lives the determination to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors la [Music] packar roles say there any good eating places around here i' be around for quite a while I me on the billing of the United Nations hey wait a minute you're building the headquarters well not all by myself a couple of thousand other Fells in on this I'm just one of the engineers maybe you could tell us all about it are [Music] sure well now all I know is what they're putting up and why well the general assembly elected a committee to advise a Secretary General in the planning they agreed to call in one of America's leading Architects Wallace K Harrison to take charge and instead of conducting the usual International competition the committee decided to set up an international Board of famous Architects and Engineers to work out the grand plan as a team the United Nations idea of international cooperation was put to a practical test well here they were from all parts of the world and each with his own idea and everybody was convinced that his idea was the best one well we all wondered how they'd get along that's simple I break down all hope you see a junk here and build is twice as high as the Empire State build that's silly imagine the delegates working downstairs in the basement and trying to talk to somebody all the way up on the 150th floor while they'd be using the elevator all day long so what would you do me well I'll build a hotel cafeteria and a great big lake in the Middle where the delegates can go rooll and fishing all day I'm going to build a house for everyone of the 55 Nation I don't care what they do that's going my business but as long as they leave us our playground oh you and your old playground I think that's the stupidest thing I ever heard I don't think it's stupid I think you're stupid oh yeah break it up break it up now now let's see what really happens nice see you again it was quite a get together men whose work I'd always admired all gathered in one [Music] room well it it's a great honor to have you here with us uh in New York most of us here haven't had the experiences that you've had during the war we hope that out of your trials and tribulations you may be able to find a method to help us produce something that will be a symbol for peace and security and particularly of the United Nations in the future I don't know anything else we ought to do let's go to work so we went to work but don't get the idea from what I told you yesterday that these famous Architects sat right down and started dreaming of beautiful buildings but before they could draw a line they had to know what we call requirements in other words what sort of an organization were we building for how big should headquarters be what kind of buildings do they need how many people will be working in them and well what kind of work each person would be doing that's what we call requirements now I'll show you now take this little office worker for instance he's an average size say he need space for his desk space to move around [Music] in to work in Brea in for all of this he needs about 100 square ft but they're going to be about 4,400 people in the staff of the Secretariat that's 10 acres just for office space it would cover four of the six blocks on the site and what about corridors washrooms store rooms dining rooms heating lighting air conditioning and office machinery so the secretar just had to be stacked up in a high building with maybe only a 100 persons on a floor but that's only one part of the headquarters we had to make room for the general assembly this meant providing space for a speaker and his audience the speaker must be seen and he must be heard [Music] so we had to plan for an auditorium seating a thousand delegates and observers a thousand public Spectators and hundreds of newspaper men in addition soundproof bus or interpreters television radio and motion pictures bulls with a clear view of speaker and audience and this takes up actual ground space where you can't stand an auditorium up on its end besides the general assembly there have to be other places for the representatives to gather face to face to discuss debate and agree three council chambers four big conference rooms and 18 other committee rooms for smaller committees it seemed a good idea to put them all in a single [Music] building the fourth and last part of the headquarters was something for the future someday other International organizations would want to have headquarters on the same site we would give them another tall Office Building without taking up too much ground but this wasn't all we have to get into the site there had to be sidewalks and streets parking space for thousands of cars and just plain free [Music] space so that's how this little fellow grew and grew to cover six blocks and rolls 40 stories in the sky quite a guy isn't he when are we going to see him when will this be ready hey he's only told you about the requirements well after the Architects found out what was to go on in the headquarters they had to decide what the buildings were to look like and then they began to draw their plans isn't that right that's right and the radio movie things you were telling us about are they going to cover everything that goes on oh I guess not only when something Sensational happens then they have to cover every minute of it isn't it Sensational enough when people sit down at the table to discuss things peacefully instead of throwing bombs at each other [Music] our first consideration is utility and I think we must provide a working space that will be not only comfortable but have the highest working efficiency and also provide the workers with adequate uh light and air the way the Architects and Engineers arrived at their Solutions was very informal they brought along not only their National traditions and likes and dislikes but also their personal temperaments and hobby horses some of them like to sketch their ideas with charcoal on a wall and discuss them with their colleagues some of them prefer to work them out on the drawing board alone or in close contact with engineers and draftsmen ideas were discussed change and many many times discarded nobody knows today who had which idea sometimes somebody would do a sketch some others would discuss its possibilities other aspects of the idea would be developed sketched and discussed the shape of the General Assembly Hall for instance then the model builder would go to work and execute the idea in clay more detail plans would follow hotly discussed until everybody agreed for the moment of course then a set of preliminary blueprints emerged and the models shifted around to their proper place and while all these brilliant ideas were being thrown around we others put in many tough hours drafting them measuring compiling figuring [Music] [Music] gentlemen uh we have now arrived at plan 42g for the secretary at building to the south of the property close to the access from 42nd and 43rd streets with a secretary at court here to the South and with the general assembly to the north I will be with this plan all the way there's no difference of opinion between us there's only a difficulty of language I can my part the cooperation has been perfectly wonderful we've all felt our great responsibility and I think we've tried to build not a symbol of peace but a workshop for peace a at the same time we had to clear the way six city blocks had to be torn down mostly warehouses factories and a few apartment buildings housing all together 51 families I took the kids around the site slowly they began to understand what was going on and why it was a little like saying goodbye forever to their old playgrounds B you wreck today just one big water tower you should have seen the splash You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet where we pull a big one down hey time to go to work get out there and cut it up and while the pickaxes blow torches and nomatic cameras work their way through the six blocks families and factories slaughter houses and heating plants shopkeepers and buter players move voluntarily to other quarters provided by the United Nations I can see why they have the United Nations and I sure I'm proud they're having here in New York why don't they ask us first we liked it here where we used to play and if the ver and we said no they should have went somewhere else you know George if the United Nations would have acted like this when they were founded the war wouldn't be over yet do you think they all agreed right in the beginning when uh you Americans should start The Invasion or the French their resistance or we Russians our big offensive sure we all wanted to be asked first and make our own decisions but then we together and that's what the whole United Nations is about to get together and talk things over why don't we go there ourselves and find out how to do it yeah why don't we I know let's go to Lake Success [Music] [Music] can I you we thought we we like to make aain complain complain about what they took our playground away from us that ain't Fair what tell me more our look we about the 47th Street we plan there peacefully mind our own business and along you came and drove us out but we've been playing there before you even born sure you need the space but could you ask us what kind of organization is this anyway come with me and I will show you you come this way [Music] [Music] and the desperation of children's needs today the r areas of the world are infested with living Source the physical source that Tor and twist and deform and the mental source of ruthless negle of emptiness and of hopelessness children in the parts ofo must battle The Dread tuul children's needs are desperate the faith of these children hangs in large measure on what we the people of the United Nations can do now at once United Nations appeal for children is an appeal to you what is all this well you see I've made up my mind that I'm not to Old after all and maybe I live to see the United Nations work and I just wanted to do my part with all this construction work going on and all the foreigners coming in and business picking up you mean you actually speak Russian and French and all the other languages well no but they do don't they okay out now what did you tell him up after after all he wouldn't want to hold it the works the works yeah the works [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh