The Mayor at the UN (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)

This week, New York City is welcoming the return of foreign dignitaries, NGOs, and representatives from all over the world for an in-person United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week. It’s the world’s premier global affairs engagement. A combination of ministerials, side events, and of course the General Debate, this year’s high-level week will focus heavily on accelerating COVID-19 recovery efforts and aggressively addressing climate change and its ravaging impact.

Notably, world leaders will also

Then-Vice President Joe Biden (photo: governor's office)

Over the last four years, our city and nation have watched as the Trump administration targeted immigrant communities with punitive policies and lashed out at local leadership who disagreed with his politics. With unprecedented climate events and a pandemic that has upended our lives, cities like ours have been left to fend for themselves. Indeed, this abdication of responsibility on the national and global stage has been a recurring theme.

That is about to change. 

The incoming Biden-Harris administration has

(photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)

For many New Yorkers, the annual wave of United Nations events, set to start again this week, can be a nightmare: jam-packed subways, bottlenecks on the FDR Drive, and crowded sidewalks that slow our steady gait to a maddening crawl.

What most New Yorkers may not realize, however, is that hosting the UN boosts our economy, draws desirable traffic to local businesses, and elevates city diplomacy on the world stage — and that’s a boon for all of us.

Since 1946, New York City has been the proud, permanent home to the UN and its