UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- To "fold one's tent" became a command at UN Headquarters on Friday when UN officials ordered outdoor broadcasters covering the General Assembly high-level week to take down tents and canopies because of an approaching Nor'easter.
"Due to a wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service, and for everyone's safety, the (outdoor) Media Centre and 47th Street entrance will close ... and will not be open tomorrow (Saturday)," the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (MALU) told radio and television crews in a late afternoon email alert. "Broadcasters should take down canopies and tents set up outdoors by the end of Friday."
The weather service warned a Nor'easter will have a significant impact in the New York area through the weekend with heavy rain and winds gusting to more than 80 kph.
The United Nations traditionally installs two large tents on the North Lawn inside the 47th Street gate for security screening and to house visiting radio and television correspondents and crews during the annual General Assembly high-level week.
Several broadcasters set up their own smaller tents and canopies in the adjacent Rose Garden and along the East River.
MALU said broadcasters could set up in the main cafeteria space on the first floor of the Secretariat Building on Saturday, but cautioned there would be no catering or audiovisual services, as provided in the Media Centre tent.
"Fold one's tent" stems from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1844 poem, The Day Is Done: "And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares, that infest the day, Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away." ■
