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"The 147,000-square-foot, $167 million fortress houses the American diplomatic staff and even has a secure location within for sending and receiving classified information. To ensure that classified information is not intercepted by rogue elements, there are said to be soundproof walls and a special secure room to communicate with the White House.

Designed by the firm of renowned architect Charles Gwanthmey, the formidable structure rises above Manhattan’s First Avenue across the street from the United Nations complex. The designers said they wanted “an iconic tower that would transcend strict programmatic and technical constraints, and become a compelling and representative landmark for architecture and democracy.”

The 26-story building is named after Ronald H. Brown, the former U.S. secretary of commerce who was killed along with 34 others in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia while on his way to drum up trade in the war-torn former Yugoslavia." Source: Fox News Internet