Reports are being made that substantial sums of money have been transferred from the Treasury of Asgardia for the purchase of the Benjamin N. Duke House on 1009 Fifth Avenue, with the intention that it will serve as the official Embassy for the Realm. It is expected that the current representative, Avengers member and Crown Prince Thor Odinson will be taking up residence there, along with his wife, the Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist, Dr. Jane Foster, and their 11-month-old daughter, the Princess Torunn.
As the eight-story, 20,000 square foot property is classified as a New York City landmark, there are still more than a few legal hoops to jump through in deciding how much the new owners will be allowed to change as Embassies are considered sovereign soil of the nation that they host - there have been unfortunate cases of young children being injured by security systems at the Latverian Embassy, due to their trespassing on foreign soil in order to retrieve lost toys.
Asgardia has been something of a point of contention since its launch in the summer of 2015, as documented by The Bugle with an exclusive interview with Dr. Foster and co-collaborator Tony Stark. While undeniably a marvel of scientific breakthroughs, one that helped to earn the doctor her Nobel, there are those who maintain complaints about the floating island. The childish and opinionated alike take issue with how the landmass ruins the New York skyline. Some, more prudently, worry about the hazard it may pose to air traffic, though no incidents have occurred in the last year and a half.
But the most glaring debates focus on the inhabitants of the city. Some consider two separate altercations had by Thor Odinson on Manhattan soil, one in which he gruesomely lost his arm, the other his hammer (now being wielded by a still-unknown woman), to have been among the numerous contributing factors that led to the shift in public opinion and the UN’s passage of the ACCORDS.
Since then, the Prince has kept a relatively low profile. Though Asgardia did not sign the ACCORDS due to the realm having not yet formally joined the United Nations, Odinson was present at the signing ceremony out of solidarity. Having registered as an active asset to the UN, he was present to aid and offer his services at the crash of the Iliad helicarrier in accordance with the relief protocol in place on the day.
Neither he nor Dr. Foster were available for comment on the aforementioned claims.
