A Midtown Manhattan high-rise building near Grand Central Terminal was evacuated Tuesday morning after authorities said it was at risk of a localized collapse.
Officials with the New York Fire Department said they received a call at 7:57am about falling bricks at 235 East 42nd Street between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue, though officials later said there was no evidence of any fallen bricks.
The building was constructed in the 1960s, and was the corporate headquarters for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which moved to The Spiral in Hudson Yards in 2018. The b
New York City Mayor Mamdani told reporters at a press conference near the building that the structure “remains unstable” and that residents should stay away from the area.
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The 37-story building was sagging between the 21st and 26th floors, according to the FDNY. First responders also noted that 2 columns buckled between the 21st and 22nd floors.
“Since arriving on scene, we have witnessed additional movement in one of the compromised columns,” Mamdani said. “This is an extremely serious situation, and I am thankful to our first responders for quickly arriving at the site and to New Yorkers for reacting calmly and with urgency.”
Mamdani confirmed earlier reports that there were no injuries and that all the construction workers who had been inside the building safely got out after structural deficiencies were discovered.
The building is in the process of being converted into an apartment complex with more than 1,600 units, officials said. The project was slated for completion by 2027, The New York Times reported.
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Approximately 130 fire and EMS personnel were activated to evacuate people from the premises. Six other surrounding buildings were also evacuated as a precaution, fire officials said.
In an earlier, unrelated press conference, Mamdani said one of the nearby buildings that was evacuated was a school with about 400 children inside.
The New York Police Department blocked off traffic from 40th to 45th Streets between 1st and 3rd Avenues, Mamdani said.
In response to reporters’ questions about how serious the situation was, Fire Chief John M. Esposito said he remains concerned the building is continuing to move.
“We have specialized tools that we can watch the building from and see movement even in centimeters or fractions of an inch. And since we arrived on the scene and put that in place, we have seen continual movement,” Esposito said.
Esposito also assuaged possible fears over a complete building collapse.
“It’s a steel frame building. So it would not be a total collapse. It would be more of a localized collapse,” he said.
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Officials with the city’s Department of Buildings are on the scene and are using drones to examine the building.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said there is an investigation underway to figure out the cause of the columns buckling.
“We feel like the next step is making sure we can get onto that 21st floor to add additional emergency trusses to spread that load,” Tigani said.
Officials stressed that the situation is changing by the minute.
