One United Nations Plaza

1 United Nations Plaza | also 787 1st Avenue | Turtle Bay | built 1977

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1969

    Roche Dinkeloo proposes a mirror-glass complex of three office towers beside the UN

    In November 1969 plans were announced for a massive hotel, office and business complex near the United Nations. The architects, Roche Dinkeloo, proposed wrapping three office towers in a sleek skin of reflecting glass panels. New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable called the scheme a tour de force and a giant trick of mirrors.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1969

    January

    A state corporation forms to develop the UN expansion

    The United Nations Development Corporation, created by New York State, was formed in January 1969 with powers to assemble land and issue tax-free bonds for expansion near UN headquarters. Architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo had presented a first plan in April 1968, and a revised plan followed in November 1969. The resulting tower was partly financed by a $55.2 million bond issue in 1973 and opened in 1975.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1972

    August

    A scaled-back single building replaces the multi-tower plan for the UN Development Corporation site

    The multi-tower scheme won approval from the Board of Estimate in April 1970, but neighbors kept criticizing it and financing stayed uncertain. A less ambitious design for a single building combining a hotel and offices was drafted in 1971 and finalized in August 1972.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1975

    November 20

    One United Nations Plaza formally opens

    One United Nations Plaza, a mixed office-and-hotel tower designed by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, formally opened on November 20, 1975. Mayor Abraham Beame, UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, U.S. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan and development corporation chairman John J. McCloy attended the ceremony. The $32 million building, directly across from UN headquarters, was developed by the United Nations Development Corporation.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1976

    The Ambassador Grill opens as Roche Dinkeloo's first hotel commission and its only public restaurant

    The Ambassador Grill occupies a windowless space at the rear of the first floor and could be reached through the hotel and office lobbies or from a passage on East 44th Street. It was the firm's first hotel commission and the only public restaurant it designed. Kevin Roche reportedly chose even the copper service plates, flower vases and staff uniforms, and the dominant color was a reddish burgundy.

    “This was Roche Dinkeloo's first hotel commission and the firm's first and only public restaurant.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1976

    Times critics Ada Louise Huxtable and Paul Goldberger praise the Grill's mirrored ceiling vault

    In 1976 two New York Times critics wrote admiringly of the Ambassador Grill's lit ceiling vault of glass panels, mylar and tiny bulbs. Ada Louise Huxtable credited the architects with breaking from standard hotel formulas and called the room a romantic setting for dining out. Paul Goldberger described the ceiling as an intricate trelliswork of mirrors reflecting back upon itself like a prism.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  7. 1983

    A skylit lobby with green marble columns links the two UN Plaza towers

    The hotel lobby dates to 1983, when Two United Nations Plaza was completed, and it fills the gap between the two towers. Skylights light the entrance foyer and the octagonal reception area, where mirrored rings of small bulbs step upward toward the center. The floors use three marble patterns, and a ramped hallway is lined with four pairs of polished green marble columns with mirrored sides.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  8. 1997

    The UN hotel passes from Hyatt management to Regal Hotels in 1997 and Millennium & Copthorne in 1999

    Hyatt International ran the hotel for more than two decades under a contract with the United Nations Development Corporation. Regal Hotels International bought it in 1997, and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels acquired it in 1999. The Landmarks Commission later noted that it was operating as One UN New York.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  9. 2017

    January 17

    The Landmarks Commission designates the Ambassador Grill and hotel lobby as an interior landmark

    After a November 22, 2016 public hearing, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the United Nations Hotel's first floor interiors on January 17, 2017. The designation covers the Ambassador Grill and the hotel lobby's reception area, entrance foyer and hallway. Fifteen people testified in support, among them representatives of DOCOMOMO, the Municipal Art Society and a group called Save the Grill.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Further reading

Nearby

All 32 buildings with stories in Turtle Bay