Trump’s U.n. Fight Is Becoming New York City’s Problem

NEW YORK — The Trump administration’s refusal to pay the financially strapped United Nations is creating ripple effects beyond the international stage — including a potential fiscal dilemma for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The United States owes the U.N. nearly $4 billion, including about $2 billion in membership dues. That considerable debt — as well as money owed by other countries and internal budget rules — has led U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to warn of the international body’s financial collapse.

New York hosts the U.N.’s global headquarters and has long subsidized its physical footprint through public financing deals. If the U.N.’s budget remains shaky or deteriorates, a deal ironed out under Mamdani’s predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams, threatens to leave the city on the hook for the U.N.’s financial travails as well.

The United Nations Development Corporation — an obscure entity created in 1968 to lease office space to international agencies — issued a $365 million bond last year to renovate two office buildings next to the U.N. headquarters. To seal the deal, the Adams administration agreed to backstop the bond to the tune of $25 million a year by taking over and paying for any vacated office space.

That means if the U.N. doesn’t pay its rent, the city would be on the hook for millions of dollars a year. The city is already facing a $5.4 billion budget gap that’s straining Mamdani’s ability to implement his progressive agenda.

Demand for U.N.-related office space is also no longer certain. U.N. agencies have been steadily moving people out of the United States, which is expensive. Other countries are eager to lure international workers. One U.N. affiliate, for instance, recently announced it was moving 400 people from the Big Apple to Madrid and Bonn, Germany.

Former New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who is on the development corporation’s board, said if the U.N. runs out of money it would be a “crisis” and that the congressional delegation should try to get President Donald Trump to pay up.

“It's not only for the U.N., it’s for the economy of New York City,” she said.

To keep U.N. agencies happy, the development corporation issued the bond, which is paying to renovate 1 and 2 U.N. Plaza. The U.N. agencies are also getting the space at $51 per square foot — well below market rate.

Rob Cole, the development corporation’s executive vice president and general counsel, said the city agreed to step in if the U.N. defaulted on the bond because of how important the U.N. is to New York.

“We were in a very rough real estate market, and with uncertainty in commercial estate, the city stepped up,” he said.

A U.N. spokesperson, Farhan Aziz Haq, said in an email that “we honor all our legal obligations and will continue to do so.”

Trump told POLITICO in February he was unaware that the U.S. was behind on its commitments to the U.N. but was sure he could “solve the problem very easily” and get other countries to pay — if only the U.N. would ask.

Mamdani’s team is now keeping a close eye on the U.N.

After a report that Guterres’ team was threatening to shutter its New York headquarters, Cole said the mayor’s office of management and budget called the development corporation to inquire.

Mamdani also met with Guterres in person on Tuesday.

In a readout of the meeting provided by the U.N., Guterres thanked the mayor for an “outstanding relationship and support received from the host city,” but did not mention the host country.

While the U.N. can be a political punching bag in Washington, in New York, mayors often see the international body through a different lens — as a prestigious institution and major local employer. A decade ago, a city economic impact report estimated the UN’s presence generates $3.7 billion in annual economic activity and employs 25,000 people.

In February, Mamdani replaced the city’s commissioner for international affairs, Aissata M.B. Camara, with Ana María Archila, who helped lead the Working Families Party and the immigrant rights group Make the Road New York.

Archila accompanied the mayor during his Tuesday meeting with Guterres. She said Mamdani spent the entire conversation offering to help the U.N. and described the two men as kindred spirits.

“There's obviously the contrast with the federal government,” she said. “Some of the problems — the root — it’s not in our control. When the powerful states are not making their contributions, it creates a financial crisis that is inevitable.”

For now, the U.N. leaving New York City entirely appears unlikely.

Former City Councilmember Joe Borelli, a Republican member of the development corporation’s board, quipped that it takes 190 nations to change a lightbulb at the U.N.

“The idea that it’s going to pick up and move to another country next year is as far from a prospect as world peace,” he said in an interview.

Mamdani also appointed state Assemblymember Emerita Torres, a Bronx Democrat and former diplomat, to lead the development corporation.

Torres replaces George Klein, a real estate developer who had been on the corporation’s board for 54 years. Klein was first appointed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, then reappointed by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and every mayor since until he stepped down in December.

At the development corporation’s first full meeting since his exit, the board honored Klein, who appeared at the agency’s East Side conference room to give a valedictory speech. Klein said he’d spoken with Torres earlier this week and that a key piece of advice he gave her was “stay away from the press.”

After Klein made the comment, a staffer made sure to point out that a reporter was in the room.