Rats, Vermin stalk UN corridors of power
Pastor Dale Morgan
Rats, Vermin stalk UN corridors of power*
By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 2:17am GMT 01/03/2007
The United Nations headquarters in New York is infested with rats, mice,
worms and even salt-water eels, according to staff members.
The crumbling 40-acre complex on Manhattan's East River, built in the
1950s, is due to undergo a $1 billion five-year refurbishment starting
next year – a renovation, it seems, that cannot come soon enough. Staff
have complained to Aramark, which provides food to the thousands of
delegates and assistants who work there, that some lunches served in the
canteen have been nibbled by rodents.
An insider told the New York Post: "In some instances the rats have
beaten the UN staffers and delegates to the daily buffet. All of this
has been reported to Aramark, which has done nothing."
The source said that infestations of mice and worms had been found
throughout the UN campus, in offices and restaurants.
Security officers told the newspaper that leaks have developed in the
subterranean levels that allowed river eels to wriggle through.
Joan McDonald, the UN's director of facilities, said: "There has been a
rodent problem, just like any other building in New York, but we do have
exterminators come in every week to take care of it."