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From 1948 to 1964 Percy R. Pyne House on 680 Park Avenue hosted the Soviet Mission to the United Nations, one of a number of institutions which provided cover for the KGB New York residency (Gryffindor, CC3.0).
According to former CIA officer Harry Rositzke, the KGB preferred New York to Washington DC as a venue for meeting agents because ‘the Big Apple is ideal for secret meetings -- of lovers, crooks or spies. It's congested and anonymous, polyglot and polychrome. No face, no accent, no costume stands out.’1
A growing Soviet espionage network in Washington was largely controlled through New York in the 1930s and early 1940s. Defections and cryptographic breakthroughs led to the exposure of many of these agents in the subsequent decade, contributing to the onset of the Cold War. The presence of the United Nations ensured that a cat and mouse game between the KGB and FBI in the city would continue until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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