Pound Ridge Rejects U.N. Headquarters!
You read that correctly. In 1946, the newly formed United Nations was looking for its very first home. Like so many others, they couldn’t resist the appeal of Pound Ridge. In fact, two of the final five proposals for the U.N. headquarters included Pound Ridge, and both would have effectively wiped the town off the map.
Residents at the time had not-so-mixed feelings about the plans. A Citizens Committee created by Supervisor William Shine polled residents about ceding town land to the U.N. and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. The Town Board passed a resolution urging the U.N. to explore other options but the organization was undeterred. Final proposals for the headquarters accounted for 90% of the town outside of the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Unsurprisingly, a house-to-house poll of those affected showed that 84% of the townspeople were opposed to the plans. Supervisor Shine sent an urgent message to the U.N. Site Selection Committee articulating the “sincere regard which the residents of Pound Ridge have for the high aims and ideals of the United Nations” but that “it’s drastic and ruthless” proposals “would wipe out an entire community, and leave homeless and townless, its residents.” The New York Herald Tribune called his letter an “almost piteous protest.” The situation looked bleak for our little town and its residents.
Salvation came in the form of an $8.5 million Manhattan real estate purchase by the Rockefeller family. Only months after Supervisor Shine’s desperate letter, the Rockefellers purchased the present site of the U.N. headquarters and donated it to New York City. The city donated it to the United Nations, and the rest is history.
So, the next time you stroll down Westchester Avenue, stop and appreciate our tranquil environs and the fact that we still don’t have a streetlight, much less high rise hotels, embassies, and overpriced delis. Can you imagine the awful cross-town traffic from Trinity Pass when the U.N was in session?