Diplomatic cri$i$
By JOSH MARGOLIN
August 13, 2012
NY Post
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Syria isn’t all that’s frustrating the United Nations these days.
The world body’s already-overbudget reconstruction of its East Side complex has so outgrown its funds that the plan has to be greatly scaled back, The Post has learned. 
And even then, what was to be a $1.88 billion rehab will come in close to $400 million beyond the latest and highest UN estimate.
The US State Department was “shocked to learn . . . that the cost overrun had grown so significantly,” newly released US government documents say.
And although the United Nations is trying to put the best spin on it, the chief of the construction program told the feds that the projection “is an accurate assessment.”
The cost was tucked into a report issued late last month by the US Government Accountability Office that draws back the curtain on a massive project complicated by poor planning, unexpected problems and security needs. 
The report confirms UN workers’ suspicions that asbestos problems were far worse than expected at the 60-year-old compound. 
And the document for the first time raises the possibility that plans for a land deal with the city and state — designed to expand UN office space while providing more waterfront access for the city — is in jeopardy because of the price tag, originally pegged at $73 million.
The GAO found the United Nations “does not have an estimate of the project’s cost.”
“It’s good news and not-so-good news,” UN Assistant Secretary-General Michael Adlerstein said. 
“The project is proceeding on schedule,” he told The Post. 
Adlerstein, who oversaw the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, admitted being overbudget, but noted the reconstruction has not suffered the delays, accidents and corruption that often come with such big projects. 
“The UN will be much more secure and safe” afterward, he said.
Security is one of the biggest problems at the 17-acre campus. It was designed for easy access from First Avenue and the FDR Drive, but that was before the era of terrorism. 
Instead of rebuilding all five structures at the UN headquarters, only three will be done now: the Secretariat, the General Assembly and the Conference buildings. 
Reconstruction of the Library and South Annex will be postponed.
Much of what US auditors found at the United Nations has yet to be shared with the body’s 193 member countries. Details are to be laid out when the General Assembly convenes next month.
Already, staffers have started returning to the Secretariat Building, though much of the office tower, including the secretary-general’s office suite, is still gutted. 
The Security Council and the rest of the Conference Building are also active construction sites. The rehab of the General Assembly building hasn’t started yet.
The project is supposed to be done by 2014, though most is scheduled to be completed next year.