Emergency crews evacuated surrounding buildings in Manhattan on Tuesday after two support columns buckled inside a high-rise undergoing residential conversion, according to city officials and media reports.
The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) found multiple cracks, sagging floors, and structural issues on the 21st floor of the former Pfizer pharmaceutical building on East 42nd Street.
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Temporary stabilization measures are expected to disrupt a busy Midtown corridor near Grand Central Terminal for several days, affecting commuters, residents, and tourists.
The FDNY deployed drones to gather technical data and visuals while assessing the structural integrity of the bent steel beam shared on social media.
“It’s a very serious situation because the box beams – the steel beams – have started to bend and deflect from the weight,” said FDNY Chief John Esposito.
“We evacuated the building and started evacuations of surrounding buildings.”
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Esposito later noted during a press conference that the threat would likely result in a localized collapse rather than a total collapse.
The office of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that a specialized team inspected every floor and found no further movement, allowing on-site contractors to begin emergency stabilization work that would extend overnight.
“The building remains unstable,” Mamdani said Tuesday afternoon. “This is an extremely serious situation.”
Nearby employees face uncertain timelines for returning to their offices, with local business disruptions potentially lasting from a few days to two weeks, according to CNN.
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MetroLoft, one of the two companies managing the construction project, confirmed in a statement that the damage was confined to a small section of the site.
