United States observations and monitoring in support of adaptive water management (Ms. Amanda McCarty)

U.S. observations and monitoring in support of adaptive water management

Presented at UNFCCC' organized Technical workshop on water, climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.  

Paying the UN to steal a NY park - NYPOST.com

Paying the UN to steal a NY park - NYPOST.com

The United States is going broke, and the United Nations is morally bankrupt. So why should US taxpayers pay for UN bureaucrats to get swanky new offices -- destroying a New York City park in the process?

It’s all poised to happen, if the UN project can clear a key hurdle by Oct. 10.

For nearly a decade, the United Nations and the Bloomberg administration have eyed Robert Moses Playground, a small city park just south of UN headquarters, as the site for a new tower -- as tall as 505 feet -- in which to “consolidate” UN offices now scattered across the city.

The city would sell the park to the UN Development Corp. -- a state public-benefit corporation (on whose board sits Mayor Bloomberg’s sister, Marjorie Tiven) that manages UN real-estate needs. Once the corporation builds the new tower, the United Nations would supposedly vacate UN Plaza 1 and 2, which the city would put up for sale.

The money from these real-estate transactions would go into a special fund for East Side development, which could then cover the $150 million or more cost of completing the East Side “greenway” with an “esplanade” (complete with bike paths, of course) built over the water from 38th Street to 60th Street.

This June, the state Legislature finally cleared the way for the park to be “alienated” for sale as real estate. But that “alienation” won’t happen if a “Memorandum of Understanding” isn’t reached by Oct. 10. Needed are OKs from the mayor, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, as well as the local representatives, Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh and state Sen. Liz Krueger.

Many in the neighborhood pray that one of the politicians will refuse.

The East End Hockey Association, which has played at Robert Moses since 1972, opposes the swap. And Vivienne Gilbert, co-op president of 5 Tudor City Place, says area residents are worried about the project’s effect on their safety and quality of life.

Land next to the park is slated to become housing and office towers, so residents are especially concerned about light and air. The crowding caused by the new development, Gilbert adds, makes it all the more important to keep the playground open as recreational space.

Then there’s security. Not only does the park sit atop the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, but fitting a 39-story tower on the cramped site wouldn’t allow much “setback” from the street. These factors, Gilbert explains, increase the building’s appeal as a terrorist target -- and would require even stricter security in a neighborhood that already sometimes stifles under it.

Kavanagh insists that security concerns will be addressed, and that no plan will move forward unless adequate substitute park space is found; he’s “optimistic that we will work out a deal that is a win for the community.”

But there’s also the bigger picture: a potential multimillion-dollar bill for federal taxpayers.

As Heritage Foundation fellow Brett Schaefer noted in a recent paper, the United Nations would ultimately pay the UNDC for the tower -- but Uncle Sam shoulders a fifth or more of the UN budget. Estimates of the project’s cost run as high as $475 million.

Plus, the savings of “consolidating” UN staff into the new tower may not materialize. According to Schaefer, the United Nations pays half the market rate at UN Plaza 1 and 2; the new tower would mean giving up those favorable rents.

If it consolidates at all: Fox News recently reported that Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has gone on a hiring binge of late, increasing the size of his Secretariat from 2008 to 2009 by nearly 38 percent.

Americans may pay an even bigger price. Typically, the UNDC has financed its development through tax-exempt bonds, which amount to a subsidy from federal, state and local taxpayers. (A spokesman for a coalition of groups championing the project, David Cantor, says the UNDC will use tax-exempt bonds for at most a portion of the building.)

The question, however, is why US taxpayers would pay a dime toward this project. At a time when we’re hugely in debt, and the United Nations is busy pushing Palestinian statehood and fêting Iranian nut-job Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, why should we fork over millions of dollars -- and a city park -- to make the United Nations’ dream of nicer, more convenient offices come true?

Proponents of the project say it’s not a done deal, pointing to hurdles beyond the Oct. 10 deadline. But once such projects get rolling, they become almost impossible to resist.

The best bet would be to stop the project now -- before it’s too late.

Meghan Clyne is managing editor of National Affairs.

The U.N. Exposed : How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World

by Eric Shawn

Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 1595230203

The "U.N. Exposed" takes you behind closed doors and reveals what really goes on when the diplomats gather in the name of the world body. The United Nations was created after World War II to promote peace and international understanding. But over the years, and today more than ever, the U.N. has failed to achieve its original mission. It has failed to address the most dangerous threats facing the civilized world, refused to condemn terrorist acts, encouraged America's enemies, and supported some of the world's most oppressive governments all while wasting billions of dollars. The book reveals how the vaunted Security Council was bought off by the very forces it is supposed to supervise, from Saddam's billions to Iran. The book gives a rare inside tour of the United Nations, focusing on many disturbing aspects that have been ignored by the mainstream media:

• How U.N. supervised funds were diverted into weapons used against American troops.
• How terrorists and rogue states seeking nuclear weapons flout toothless U.N. demands.
• How our allies' selfish economic interests drive U.N. backed challenges to American interests.
• How kickbacks, bribes, and corruption have pervaded the highest echelons of the U.N.
• How U.N. ambassadors and staff enjoy luxurious and tax-free Manhattan lifestyles and other perks.

"The U.N. Exposed" relies on numerous interviews with United Nations diplomats, executives, staff, as well as U.N. reports and transcripts of closed door meetings to document its inner workings. How France, Russia and China were blatantly bribed by Saddam's regime through billions in contracts, the infamous Oil for Food scandal, and what Saddam's own officials admit was "Saddam's Bribery System" to win support at the U.N. How the U.N has given Iran a 21 year head start to develop its nuclear technology. And how when it comes to terrorism, U.N. diplomats admit its efforts are merely 'lip-service', or utterly inadequate. If the U.N. is to reform, this book provides the starting place. You will also learn how U.N. diplomats use plastic credit card-like ID's to skimp out on paying sales tax on their cheeseburgers, and how the non-profit, humanitarian organization houses its chief executive in one of the most expensive and elegant private mansions in Manhattan. It took a long-time New York City Hall and crime reporter to show up in U.N. World and ask..."what's going on here?" The answer, is "The U.N. Exposed".

> > Read an Excerpt from "The U.N. Exposed"

New FAO Deputy Director-General appointed

WEBWIRE – Thursday, December 02, 2010

Ann Tutwiler will assume office in January 2011

Rome - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today announced the appointment of Ann Tutwiler, a citizen of the United States, as one of FAO’s two Deputy Directors-General. Ann Tutwiler will be the first female to hold this position.

Ms Tutwiler will be Deputy Director-General for Knowledge. She comes to FAO from the United States Department of Agriculture, where she served since January 2010 as Coordinator of Global Food Security in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. She is expected to assume her duties at FAO in January 2011.

Ann Tutwiler previously served as Senior Advisor for the Africa Bureau of the US Agency for International Development and prior to that, from 2006 to 2009, was the Managing Director for Agricultural Markets at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

She holds degrees in Agribusiness from Purdue University and Harvard Business School, a Masters from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College.

Ms Tutwiler replaces James G. Butler who held the position since January 2008

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