3. Hunter College, Bronx

Between March 25 until August 15 1946, the United Nations was headquartered at Hunter College’s Bronx Campus (now Lehman College). Workers adapted the campus, which had been used by the Navy during the War, for the United Nations’ use. One of the workers who carefully crafted the delegates’ first ballot box, left a note later found by the United Nations, which read: “Let me cast the first ballot for world peace.” There were discussions regarding using the nearby Kingsbridge Armory to house the General Assembly, but it fell through. There were also complaints from students and faculty regarding the United Nations’ use of the facilities, at a time when the CUNY system needed all of the classroom space it could find. Today, a small plaque commemorates the United Nations’ tenure in the Bronx, for what Bronx Borough President at the time said “History will record that the Bronx was the first capital of the world.”