NEW YORK — Restaurants are clearing space for world leaders and their entourages, the Waldorf-Astoria is fluffing the pillows in the presidential suite, and people who live on Manhattan’s East Side are just hoping to get into their buildings without a police escort.
Representatives from 192 countries will be in town this week for a United Nations anti-poverty summit and the opening of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting. For New Yorkers, that will mean gridlocked traffic and a chance to spot the leader of Bhutan or Andorra at a local eatery.
Antonio and Mario Cerra, the father-and-son owners of a U.N.-area Italian steakhouse called Padre Figlio, were busy last week booking tables for countries such as East Timor.
Antonio Cerra said the diplomats will eat hearty Italian food with luxurious touches like black truffles.
“They know not to ask for Russian food,” he said. “They know not to ask for kosher. They get pasta, seafood, steak, boom.” President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at the anti-poverty summit on Wednesday.
The Associated Press
