New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is very concerned that the city might suffer a major disaster—the loss of the United Nations: Mayor May Revive a Scheme To Get U.N. More Space in City.

UNITED NATIONS — While sources say Mayor Bloomberg wants to revive a plan to erect a new building in an effort to avert what he calls the “disaster” of losing the United Nations to another world city, such a building could act as an aid for city developers to regain possession of lucrative office space currently leased cheaply by the world body, sources said.

On a visit to Washington yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg expressed concern about the United Nations leaving New York. According to several sources, the mayor intends to revive an old plan to build a “swing space” to house U.N. offices while its headquarters undergoes an ambitious $2 billion renovation. U.N. officials, however, say they have no current plan to leave the city. And many business and U.N. sources familiar with the issue say the aim of several real estate developers is not to help the United Nations but to make a Midtown office building more profitable.

The United Nations and several of its agencies currently lease part of the U.N. Plaza Hotel building on 45th Street and First Avenue at well below market rent. If the world body vacates the space, it could be renovated and sold for nearly $500 million — half of it net profit for a lucky developer.

For that to happen, however, the United Nations needs to be persuaded to give up the space. One proposal is to move the offices currently in the space to a new building in Long Island City, Queens, across the East River from the landmark U.N. building. Staffers could be ferried easily to and from the United Nations.

The United Nations has enhanced the prestige of many world leaders, including Hugo “I Smell Sulfur!” Chavez, Mahmoud “Surrounded by Light” Ahmadinejad, and Yasser “Six Gun” Arafat. It would be a real shame to lose that prestige-enhancing facility to somewhere like … France.