In September, as he had for the last three years, Scott Windes, 39, left his family behind in Salt Lake City to spend three whirlwind days in New York. He was drawn not by the new season on Broadway, the big shows at the city’s museums or even the final homestands of its two playoff bound baseball teams.

He came because the United Nations General Assembly was in session.

– the Super Bowl of the do-good space.

The General Assembly, which began its annual gathering this year on Sept. 15, has always drawn people who work in international relations and thus need to attend the opening meetings and weeklong General Debate that follows.