Turkish House

821 United Nations Plaza | also 342 East 46th Street, 821 1st Avenue | Turtle Bay | built 2018

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The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

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

  1. 2012

    Turkey hires Cresa Partners to demolish two buildings and manage a new consulate tower

    The Consulate General of Turkey paid $5.1 million for the property in 2011 and announced the project the next year. In 2012 it hired the advisory firm Cresa Partners to oversee demolition of two buildings on the site and construction of a new tower. The owner and Cresa then projected that the work would take 36 months.

    Source: Internet Archive

  2. 2016

    March

    Perkins Eastman announces a crescent-inspired design for the Turkevi Center

    In March 2016 the architecture firm Perkins Eastman said it had received the go-ahead for the Turkevi Center, a 200,000-square-foot building at 46th Street and First Avenue that combines a mission, a consulate and residences for Turkey. The firm's design is modeled in part on the Turkish crescent, with prominent loggias on the south and east sides of the upper floors and a podium wrapped in perforated metal paneling. The building was then scheduled for completion in 2018.

    Source: Internet Archive

  3. 2016

    November 4

    Turkey sues Cresa Partners, accusing the project manager of abandoning the consulate tower

    On November 4, 2016, the Consulate General of Turkey sued Cresa Partners, accusing the firm of violating its contract by abandoning the project. Cresa had announced in September that it would stop work, the same month the consulate filed plans for the tower with the city. The consulate says Cresa's contract has no term limits and caps the job at $2.3 million, and it seeks at least $500,000 in damages.

    Source: Internet Archive

  4. 2017

    September

    Construction begins after a 12-story building on the site is demolished

    By September 2017 construction had started on a new consulate building for Turkey; Perkins Eastman designed it, and it was to be called Türkevi. A 12-story building that the consulate owned had been taken down to clear the site. The new tower was to serve as a consulate and permanent mission to the UN, with residences for diplomats and their families on the upper floors, and construction was expected to wrap up in fall 2020.

    Source: Internet Archive

  5. 2021

    Summer

    A glass panel falls ten stories from the facade as fire-safety approval stalls

    In the summer of 2021, before the building opened, a glass panel came off its facade and fell ten stories. Around the same time, the fire department rejected the initial fire-safety plan for the building. Curbed later reported that serious safety problems were still unresolved in the months before the September opening.

    Source: curbed.com

  6. 2021

    September 20

    Erdoğan opens the $291 million Turkish House across from the UN

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally opens Turkish House on September 20, 2021. Designed by Perkins Eastman, the 36-floor tower houses Turkey's mission to the United Nations and its consulate general. Its curved facade alludes to the crescent on the Turkish flag, and its top is shaped like a tulip. At $291 million, it is the most expensive Turkish diplomatic building ever built, and Turkish citizens criticize the cost as extravagant.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 2023

    March

    The fire department finally approves the fire alarm system, nearly 18 months after opening

    The FDNY approved Turkish House's fire alarm system in March 2023, almost 18 months after the building opened in September 2021. An email cited in the 2024 indictment of Mayor Eric Adams shows a fire inspector flagging more than 60 defects. Gothamist reported in 2024 that Department of Buildings records showed the tower still had no certificate of occupancy three years after it opened.

    Source: gothamist.com

  8. 2023

    May 22

    A man smashes windows of Turkish House

    On May 22, 2023, Recep Akbıyık breaks multiple windows of Turkish House. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller condemns the attack, and New York police arrest Akbıyık that May. The tower had opened in 2021, just after inspectors reported major problems with its sprinklers, fans, and other mechanical systems.

    Source: Wikipedia

  9. 2024

    Mayor Eric Adams is indicted on charges that include Turkish House favors

    In 2023, the FBI and federal prosecutors begin investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams improperly pushed fire officials to allow occupancy of Turkish House despite alleged safety problems. In 2024, Adams is indicted on federal charges that include allegations that Turkish nationals indirectly bribed him for help with issues involving the building. In February 2025, the Justice Department tells prosecutors to drop all charges.

    Source: Wikipedia

  10. 2025

    February

    Federal prosecutors are told to drop the Adams case tied to Turkish House

    In February 2025 the US Department of Justice told federal prosecutors to drop all charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. An indictment in 2024 had alleged that Turkish nationals indirectly bribed Adams to help with problems at Turkish House.

    “In February 2025, the United States Department of Justice department instructed federal prosecutors to drop all charges against Adams.”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 32 buildings with stories in Turtle Bay