As the world’s diplomacy roils a few feet away, a little UN oasis offers a riverside pocket of peace

By TED ANTHONY
AP National Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Inside, those who administer the world look for peace. Outside, on the wooded grounds of a place founded on the premise of ending conflict, sometimes they can find it. In the walled-off compound of the United Nations at the easternmost end of Manhattan sits a quiet patch of wooded land. It exists in placid contrast to the diplomacy and national interests playing out just a few hundred feet away. There are garden paths covered by a canopy of trees so dense that it’s easy to forget the massive city just beyond the fence. There’s even a small and well-hidden basketball court where quick pickup games can convene.