2. Rockefeller Center

The General Assembly considered using Rockefeller Center as a temporary home for its six week session in 1946. Ultimately, the UN did not select Rockefeller Center for this purpose as it staff would have had to commute between it and the Bronx and Long Island where the rest of the organization was located, though Rockefeller had offered the theater rent free. Additionally, the New York Times reported that had the United Nations selected the Rockefeller Center, they might have been forced to cover the payroll for the “twenty-four musicians, ninety-two figure skaters, thirty-four stagehands, six ice attendants and other personnel,” which would have been another cost the fledgling organization wouldn’t have wanted to borne.

However, the United Nations did retain some office space at Rockefeller Center. In 1947, the Headquarters Advisory Committee met in the Secretary General’s offices at 610 Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, where they chose Wallace K. Harrison as Director of Planning for the future permanent site of the United Nations. Harrison had previously served as architect for Rockefeller Center.

Read about 10 other Secrets at Rockefeller Center.