Originally referred to as United Nations Plaza Park, it was named in 1979 for Ralph Bunche, the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

[1] The park contains four monuments: a sculpture dedicated to Ralph Bunche, a wall inscribed with a biblical quotation from the prophet Isaiah, a staircase named in honor of Natan Sharansky, and a plaque commemorating Bayard Rustin.

It was designed by the firm of Andrews & Clark and replaced a set of stairs that had previously connected Tudor City with First Avenue at 43rd Street.

The legislation was sponsored by Councilman Henry Stern and came as a response to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 that had been recently adopted by the international organization.

[36] The sculpture was dedicated on September 15, 1980 with a ceremony held at the United Nations General Assembly Building followed by an unveiling of a plaque near the base of the monument in the park.

Dignitaries attending the event included Mrs. Ralph J. Bunche, United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S.

[1] Legislation to name the staircase after Sharansky was passed by the City Council on September 24, 1981 and was signed into law by Mayor Ed Koch on October 6, 1981.

The event was attended by about a hundred people and covered in The New Yorker; staff writer William McKibben was able to get an egg to balance on his first try during the equinox but failed repeatedly when he returned to the site two days later.

[1][47][48] On August 28, 1989, Mayor Ed Koch dedicated a plaque at the southern end of the park that commemorates American civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.

[49] In the early to mid-1990s, the Grand Central Partnership developed plans to designate the segment of 43rd Street between First and Lexington avenues, which includes the Sharansky Steps at the north end of the park, as "United Nations Way" and make streetscape improvements along the corridor to provide an enhanced pedestrian connection between the United Nations headquarters and Grand Central Terminal.

Larger events are accommodated at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, the only other location near the United Nations headquarters were protests and demonstrations with sound are permitted.