By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TURTLE BAY — Police cleared the streets and protestors lined up along them to make way for President Barack Obama’s address at the UN General Assembly's Millenium Development Goals Conference Wednesday.
Obama said the U.S. would seek partners around the world as he discussed the goals, a set of guidelines the UN established to reduce global poverty that is nearing its 2015 deadline.
At the Hammarskjold Plaza’s eastern end, activists chanted for Obama to challenge Sri Lankan President Mahandra Rajapaksa on his administration’s treatment of the Tamil Tigers group.
Earlier Wednesday, a crowd of more than 100 gathered on the west side of Second Avenue at East 42nd Street to protest Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's participation in the assembly.
The firebrand president is staying under heavy security at the Hilton Hotel on the south side of East 42nd Street, across from the protestors. He will address the assembly on Thursday, along with Obama again.
Police said two giant screens will be set up on the eastern end of Hammarskjold Plaza to broadcast Obama's noontime address.
Alice Tahapary, 74, a resident of East 46th Street who worked for the UN in her native Indonesia, said part of Obama’s, and the UN’s, challenges in meeting the goals is dealing with the different cultural values of member nations.
Tahapary remembered that, in one instance, UN experts advised Indonesian rice farmers to grow the crop on a plain field rather than in steps to increase efficiency.
“But, where’s the beauty in that?” Tahapary said of the proposal, which ended up not working.
“You do wonder if it does achieve something,” she said of the assembly.
Meantime, there were plenty of East Siders dealing with repercussions of providing security to so many foreign dignitaries.
After-school pickup at The Family School, on East 47th between Second and First avenues, became a lesson in logistics for Zina Schmitz, 35, and her 17-month-old and three-year-old children.
Schmitz said she had to maneuver her stroller up to Second Avenue then down to East 46th Street where she had to show her ID to get back to her building because First Avenue was closed.
"I only have one word: Stress," Schmitz said.
Even though police did not allow pedestrians through the north side of East 42nd Street across from Ahmadinejad's hotel, passersby could still walk right in front of the Hilton on the south side of the street where they could catch a glimpse of heavy security and metal detectors in the lobby.
Public transportation along the East side was also affected by the event, as the MTA announced the northbound M15 bus would be periodically re-routed to Third Avenue between East 42nd and East 57th Streets as needed Wednesday.
Another retired UN worker, Eileen Sten, 66, a resident of East 46th Street, said that, despite the headaches, the General Assembly brings an important perspective to the neighborhood.
"I look forward to my friends in the UN coming to visit," Sten said.
"You see the international point of view," she said.
