At UN, Bed Bugs Move to Capital Master Plan Office, Raising Price for Press Returns

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 25 -- Bed bug infestation of the UN's Albano Building “swing space” on 46th Street was exposed more than a year ago by Inner City Press. An impromptu Town Hall meeting was called, and UN officials assured the staff that everything possible would be done to address the bed bug problem.

On October 25 sources told Inner City Press that, in fact, the bed bug problem has spread, now to the UN's own Capital Master Plan which is in charge of fixing up the UN's building. Inner City Press went to ask CMP spokesman Werner Schmidt to confirm or deny the presence of bed bugs in CMP.

“Over the weekend a bed bug sniffing dog checked our office and found [bed bugs] in our conference rooms,” Schmidt to his credit immediately acknowledged.

He said “the conference room chairs were taken away”and that FMS (the Facilities Management Service) is now in charge.

Back in May Inner City Press reported that a rift had emerged among senior UN officials about inaction on the bedbug infestation. In a memo leaked to Inner City Press by a whistleblower, Under Secretary General Shaaban Shaaban on May 11 wrote of CMP chief Michael Adlerstein that "In my meeting with Mr. Adlerstein five weeks ago, I never agreed that the Albano staff will be stacked there... So, in the stacking proposal you sent to Mr. Nambiar on 4 May 2010... I read in the appendix twice that 'based on initial consultations with DGACM, agreement has been made to retain the use of the Albano Building,' which does not reflect my discussion with Mr. Adlerstein."

Now bed bugs have been found in Adlerstein's own CMP Office.



Also back in May, Inner City Press reported that "the memo reveals that Shaaban has been told that his staff, of the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management, may not as promised be allowed to return to their offices in UN headquarters.

"The UN press corps has been told this as well. Their spots on the third and fourth floor, it now appears, may be given for another use. This would leave the press corp in the "whistleblower free zone" above the Library, where all conversations can be heard...The effect would be to drive smaller and more independent press out of the UN, even as the UN gets less and less press coverage, and fewer and fewer reporters attend the UN noon briefing."

Five months later, the UN press corps has now been told that the plan is, even if they return to the third and fourth floor, they will for the first time be charged rent.

They say this UN administration's attempt to disclipline or even drive out the independent press continues. Watch this space.