A Worldly Affair: Pamela Hanlon with James Wurst

 The relationship between the United Nations and the city of New York? It's complicated.

The United Nations has called the East side of Manhattan home for more than seventy years. The bond has been likened to a long marriage—both quarrelsome and committed. In A Worldly Affair, Pamela Hanlon tells the story of this hot and cold romance, from the 1940s, when Mayor La Guardia was determined to bring the new world body to New York, to the UN’s flat rejection, then abrupt change of heart in the face of a Rockefeller gift, and on to the tense, troubling years that followed. Racial prejudice and anti-communist sentiment challenged the delegates. Spies, scofflaws, and controversies angered New Yorkers. The growth of the UN placed demands on the surrounding area for office space, security, and housing and schools for the international community. But as the UN moves into its eighth decade in New York, adding nearly $4 billion to the New York economy each year, it seems like the marriage was meant to last. 

Hanlon will be joined in conversation by James Wurst, journalist and author of The UN Association–USA: A Little Known History of Advocacy and Action, a history of the popular movement that helped create the United Nations. 

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED

Registration does not guarantee admission. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A stand by line will form thirty minutes before the program.

The Program Room opens at 6 PM.

ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.