Results tagged “worldsummit”

Gothamist's new favorite blog is New York City Hack, which is written by a female cab driver, M.P. M.P. recounts the ups and downs of picking up teenagers, driving in Midtown during the U.N.'s World Summit (don't do it), and which New Jersey drivers suck the most. Plus, there are posts about life at the garage - now we know Pac-Man is part of the decor. Now, if we could only find one for a subway engineer or conductor...

Gothamist hasn't really heard that much about protests outside the U.N. during the World Summit, probably because the news has been focused on Hurricane Katrina, Judge Roberts, and the mayoral election hoo-ha. And most of the U.N. news has been that the President wants some help or that traffic is terrible. So we were glad that Newsday had a story and a good gallery of protestor pictures outside the U.N. and the hotels where the leaders are staying. There are a lot of protestors who want to free Tibet and oppose Iranian politicians. In fact, the Free Tibet protestors rushed the police outside the Waldorf (where Chinese President Hu Jintao is staying), only to be restrained and possibly arrested.

hotel, as we learned from today's Times article about how hotel managers have had to make do with their limited number of super high-end suits for the visiting world leaders, but we think it'd be funny, a dorm for the world leaders. Like they would have to round out quarters for the laundry, figure out who would need to clean the suite, sign up for time to watch cable in the common room. But it's actually as glamorous as it's supposed to be for a world leader, with your advance team visiting various suites and deciding whether or not you should have dazzling views of Central Park or three bedrooms with a grand piano. There's also a shortage of world-leader-quality rooms because many hotels have been converted to condos...which makes us wonder if countries will simply rent out deluxe apartments in the sky next time around.

Next Wednesday will be the 60th session of the General Assembly and the 2005 World Summit at the United Nations. Which means New York City is gonig to be under some serious security and gridlock for three days. As it will be the "largest single gathering of world leaders in history next week," there's a hell of a lot of planning going on at the city and federal levels. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "It will be a General Assembly like no other," and Secret Service agent A.T. Smith told Newsday, "I don't think we've ever been more prepared because there was a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that this is the highest-attended General Assembly in history." Which means that with 227 heads of state (plus an ex-president, like Bill Clinton) in the mix, there will be street closing, vehicle searches, even more subway security, a seven mile no-fly zone, and tons and tons of police officers on the street. Okay, now Gothamist understands a little better why the U.N. had to advertise its apologies.

The United Nations has launched effort to say sorry to New Yorkers. But the U.N. is not apologizing for oil-for-food or for delegates who don't pay their parking tickets (it's city revenue!): They are apologizing for the gridlock that will come with next week's World Summit. And they want to let New Yorkers know that serious stuff is going to be discussed. Hmm, we wonder if the UN's consulting firm told them to make this pre-emptive ad blitz after Donald Trump went to Congress last July to complain about the UN's development plans. But, really, people just want to know if Angelina Jolie will make an appearance.