Manhattan tower evacuated after structural damage
A busy Midtown Manhattan block was evacuated Tuesday morning after structural columns buckled inside a 37-story high-rise construction site at 235 East 42nd Street, the former Pfizer headquarters near Grand Central Station and the United Nations. The building is being converted from office space into about 1,600 residential units in what officials have described as New York City’s largest office-to-housing conversion. Emergency responders said bricks fell, floors sagged and at least two support columns were compromised, prompting a major safety response around the site.
City officials said the structure remained unstable as engineers worked on plans to shore up the affected area with emergency beams and supports. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said multiple cracks had appeared and that additional movement was observed in one damaged column. No injuries were reported, and officials said all project workers were accounted for. The Fire Department used drones to assess conditions while surrounding streets were closed and nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
Emergency shoring work underway
The project’s developer, Metro Loft, said the affected area was limited to a small section of one of the site’s two buildings and said the entire skyscraper was not at risk of collapse. City officials, however, continued to describe the situation as serious and said engineers were determining whether the structure was safe enough for workers to enter and begin remedial work. Emergency stabilization efforts were expected to continue for hours as crews monitored the building’s movement.
Office conversion faces scrutiny
The incident has drawn attention to the technical risks involved in converting older office towers into housing, especially when new floors, new layouts or heavier loads are added to existing structures. Construction workers and union representatives cited concerns that added weight may have placed dangerous pressure on the building’s supports, though officials have not announced a final cause.
For New York residents, the immediate priority remains safety. Nearby businesses, apartments, hotels and a school were evacuated, while streets around the site were closed until officials could confirm that the area was secure. The episode also raises wider questions about how the city manages large office-to-residential conversions as it pushes to address housing demand without compromising structural safety.
