The additional floors being added to a development converting office space at 235 E. 42nd St. into apartments could have caused the columns to bend, requiring evacuation of the area.
The buckled columns on the 21st floor led to cracks and caving floors.
What You Need To Know
Additional floors at 235 E. 42nd St. could be cause of structural damage
Bent columns led to multiple floors caving
City officials evacuated buildings and set up a frozen zone
“They’re quite troubling and frankly, they’re dangerous,” said Anthony Frontino, a mechanical engineer who reviewed photos and video for NY1. “I think the evacuations we’ve seen throughout the news are warranted.”
Frontino has nearly three decades in the city construction industry.
According to city building officials, the active work at 235 East 42nd St. involved the construction of new floors, from 33 stories to 37.
“The building addition that they’re putting on top of the existing structure is putting a force or a load on top of the existing structure,” Frontino said. “I don’t think you need to be a structural engineer to understand that any parent [who’s] held their child on their shoulders has felt that load in the past.”
Nathan Berman, managing principal and founder of the developer MetroLoft, told The Wall Street Journal that the damage was related to the additional floors.
“This additional load that we put on those floors caused those two particular columns to collapse,” Berman told The Wall Street Journal.
Frontino questioned the structural analysis.
“At some point, the design team identified that the existing structure, perhaps with some minor reinforcement, could support the addition above,” he said. “Clearly, based on what we’re seeing, that’s not the case.”
Meanwhile, the development had caught the attention of building inspectors in the past.
The city’s Department of Buildings issued seven violations from July to December 2025, with more than $32,000 in fines. The violations were issued to the general contractor, 235 GC LLC; its licensee, Robert Travis of MetroLoft.
A representative for MetroLoft declined further comment.
The Department of Buildings violations related to a worker falling six feet off a ladder, a metal panel that fell from the 33rd floor onto the sidewalk and excavation in the cellar that didn’t conform to construction documents.
Cliff Johnsen, a representative from the Steamfitters Local 638, said he spoke to the union workers installing a sprinkler system after they evacuated the building.
“They saw windows cracking, then they started seeing concrete falling around the 21st floor. Then, when beams started bending, they beat it out of there,” Johnsen said. “They’ve never seen a beam bend in half, so that will shake you up. You make sure you get out. That’s not supposed to happen.”