‘Buckling' beams at New York City high-rise under construction trigger evacuations

What to Know

Two structural support beams on an under-construction building in Manhattan started buckling Tuesday morning, triggering a large emergency response.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said engineers were working to stabilize the structure, using drones for monitoring.
The nearly 37-story tower is part of the city’s largest office-to-residential conversion project, with over 1,600 planned units.

At least one building was given the OK to reenter Tuesday evening, hours after city officials were alerted to buckling columns and sagging floors within a 37-story Manhattan high-rise building under construction.

The former headquarters to Pfizer, located at 235 East 42nd Street, was in the process of being converted into residents apartments when the FDNY received a call about falling bricks around 8 a.m. Tuesday. An assessment of the unstable structure prompted an immediate evacuation of the neighborhood for the foreseeable future.

“This is a minute-by-minute assessment,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters near the scene.

Fire Chief John Esposito said the way the steel-framed building is constructed, “it would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localized collapse.”

By mid-afternoon, Leila Bozorg, one of Mamdani’s deputy mayors, told reporters that emergency workers were assessing the building “floor by floor” in order to “finalize a plan for how they’re going to reenforce the structure,” adding “it is encouraging.”

The initial assessments were positive and city officials determined that on-site contractors could move forward with installing temporary shoring to stabilize the building. Aside from that emergency shoring, there will need to be additional stabilization work done throughout the evening and in the coming days.

A city official said safety inspections would allow the residents of 222 East 44th Street to return home around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The green light was given as officials continue evaluating additional nearby structures surrounding the unstable structure.

Still, the majority of nearby buildings and streets remain empty, including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels. Mamdani had announced a so-called “frozen zone” around the building for vehicles and pedestrians. He said 40th to 45th streets is closed from First to Third avenues. It wasn’t clear when the entire area might reopen or when evacuees might return to their homes.

With more than 1,600 units, the developers say the project is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history. Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project, says on its website that it is transforming a pair of 1970s-era office buildings by adding more than a dozen stories and redesigning an adjoining tower.

Buildings department records show the project has been fined by the city for several safety violations, including glass and metal falling off the building, along with an incident where a worker fell off a ladder.

MetroLoft, the project developer, stressed that the building itself is not at risk of collapse and that no debris fell from the building.

Fire officials said two columns appear to have buckled and there were multiple cracks and sagging floors between the 21st and 26th floors. From the street below, a badly bent column could be seen through a large glass window. The fire department also posted images of the column.

The building commissioner said workers will need to add emergency beams and columns to stabilize the compromised ones.

“Our top priority right now,” the mayor said Tuesday morning, “is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area.”

Raw footage from inside, taken by a construction worker, showed crumbling steel beams on the 21st floor.

Ed Miller, an area resident, said he walks under the building’s scaffolding several times a day, but will find other routes home going forward.

“The building was pretty old,” said Miles Grant, who used to work at the building. “It definitely needed a lot of work to become ready for residential.”