Indian diplomats at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations are still displaced from their workplaces
NEW YORK: Indian diplomats at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations remain displaced from their workplaces three weeks after they were issued evacuation orders after structural damage was reported in a high-rise building under construction.The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations building, located just one block from the UN Headquarters, houses the mission’s offices as well as residences for Indian diplomats and officers serving in the Indian Mission to the UN and their families.On July 7, the entire building was evacuated, along with other high-rise buildings and businesses in the area, after structural problems were reported at the former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, a 37-story “active construction” site located between Second and Third Avenues at 42nd Street in Manhattan.The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is located across the street from the troubled high-rise. There are many UN missions, UN agency staff, prominent hotels, restaurants, residences and businesses in the area.All Indian diplomats and their families followed necessary precautions following evacuation orders and vacated the building. The officers and their families were forced to find temporary housing in hotels around the city.
Within a day, evacuation orders for almost the entire area near the Pfizer building were lifted, and people returned to their residences and office buildings. The streets in and around the affected building were also opened to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.However, the Indian mission, a school and a hotel in the area remain under evacuation orders and are inaccessible.Three weeks after the incident, there is still no clarity from the New York City Mayor’s Office or Department of Buildings on when the Indian Mission to the United Nations will reopen for officers and their families to return to.The prolonged displacement has caused enormous disruption and inconvenience to Indian diplomats and their families.Indian diplomats continue to perform their work and duties amid the turmoil, including managing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the UN on July 13 to officially launch India’s campaign for the non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the period 2028-2029.This high-level visit also came amidst turmoil and as its diplomats remained unable to reach the Indian mission headquarters.Sources told PTI that the difficulties faced by the Indian mission have been raised with the authorities concerned as diplomats at the Indian Permanent Mission continue to perform their work.PTI reached out to officials with the New York City Mayor’s Office Buildings Department about the condition of the Indian Mission building, the disruption caused by the exodus now in its third week, and whether there is a timeline in which the building can be accessed again by officers and their families.
There was no response from the administration.The Permanent Mission of India in New York is housed in a 27-story red granite-clad building built in 1993. The building was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa and is located between 43rd and 44th Streets off Second Avenue.New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani had described the situation in the Pfizer building as “extremely dangerous” and said that the building was still unstable.New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tijani said in a video posted on X on July 18 that the agency has yet to detect any movement in the affected building for more than a week.While he gave an update on the measures being taken to secure the building, there was no update from the administration or the mayor’s office regarding when the Indian Mission to the UN headquarters would be reached again.