TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A 37-story building under conversion into apartments in Manhattan was declared structurally unstable on Tuesday after two support columns buckled, prompting evacuations of nearby buildings and raising fresh concerns over the project's history of construction safety violations.
The Guardian reported that New York City officials identified serious structural problems on the 21st floor of the former Pfizer office building on East 42nd Street, where contractors are converting the property into residential apartments.
The New York City Fire Department said inspectors found two buckled structural columns, along with multiple cracks and sagging floors.
Emergency crews evacuated the building and surrounding properties after authorities received reports of a structural issue at the active construction site shortly before 8 a.m. local time.
"It's a very serious situation because the box beams—the steel beams—have started to bend and deflect from the weight," Fire Department Chief John Esposito said.
"We evacuated the building and started evacuations of surrounding buildings."
Fire department drones were deployed to monitor the structure while engineers assessed its stability.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said inspection teams examined every floor and found no additional movement in the damaged support columns, allowing contractors to begin emergency stabilization work on Tuesday evening.
"The building remains unstable," Mamdani said, describing the situation as "extremely serious."
Officials said temporary reinforcement work is expected to continue over the coming days, affecting a busy section of Midtown Manhattan near Grand Central Terminal, one of New York City's busiest transportation hubs.
Esposito said any potential structural failure would likely be localized rather than a complete collapse because of the building's steel-frame construction.
Metro Loft, one of the project's developers, said public safety remained its top priority and emphasized that no injuries had been reported.
"The affected area is a small section of one of the two buildings on this site," the company said, adding that no debris had fallen from the building and the entire structure was not considered at imminent risk of collapse.
USA Today noted that the building's contractor, 235 GC LLC, has accumulated multiple safety complaints and fines since 2025, many involving falling debris, unsafe construction practices, and worker safety violations.
City records show the contractor was fined more than once after debris fell from the building, including a July 2025 incident involving falling window debris and another in August 2025 when a metal panel dropped from the 33rd floor onto the sidewalk.
Inspectors also found improperly covered debris-removal shafts that created hazardous conditions, leading authorities to temporarily halt construction before work resumed several days later.
Additional complaints included reports of unlicensed welders, inadequate ventilation, unapproved construction equipment, and a worker falling from a ladder. The contractor was also fined for failing to report that workplace injury.
The former Pfizer headquarters, which opened in 1961, occupies a prominent location near Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, and the United Nations headquarters.
City officials continue to monitor the structure while stabilization work proceeds, and the Department of Buildings is expected to determine the next steps once emergency repairs are completed.
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