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A Midtown Manhattan building, which formerly housed Pfizer offices and is being converted into apartments, is \u201cstable,\u201d city officials said late Tuesday as crews continue to work and some nearby streets remain closed to traffic Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
The Midtown building formerly housed Pfizer offices. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of New York\u2019s Department of Buildings, said<\/a> late Tuesday the building is \u201cstable\u201d and officials \u201cfeel confident in the emergency plan we have now,\u201d while adding the neighborhood will remain in a tense situation \u201cfor the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n As of Wednesday morning, traffic remains restricted on Manhattan\u2019s East 42nd and 43rd Streets between Second and Third Avenues, and five buildings in the area remain partially or fully evacuated, the New York Times reported. <\/p>\n Earlier Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said<\/a> two structural columns in the building have buckled and the building remained \u201cunstable,\u201d saying officials have seen continued movement in one of the impacted columns since arriving on scene this morning.<\/p>\n Tigani said Tuesday afternoon the city was bringing in emergency beams and columns to support the building.<\/p>\n The building, as well as several nearby buildings in New York\u2019s Midtown East neighborhood, were evacuated<\/a> Tuesday morning after officials noticed support columns were buckling, while surrounding streets were closed.<\/p>\n Mamdani said Tuesday no injuries have been reported and all construction workers have been accounted for. <\/p>\n What Happened To The Building On Tuesday?<\/p>\n The New York Fire Department said it received a call shortly before 8 a.m. EDT saying bricks were spotted falling from the 21st floor of the building, multiple<\/a> outlets<\/a> reported, where officials then discovered two support columns were buckling. That building and others nearby were evacuated shortly thereafter. Cliff Johnsen, business agent for the Steamfitters Local 638 Union, told the New York Times<\/a> the \u201cnorth side of that building is crumbling,\u201d saying support beams \u201care bending like cigarettes in there.\u201d Metro Loft Management, a real estate agency leading the building\u2019s conversion, told Bloomberg<\/a> in a statement it is \u201caware of what happened and are working closely with the Department of Buildings to understand the full scope of the situation.\u201d Nathan Berman, founder of MetroLoft and a developer on the building\u2019s conversion, told the New York Times<\/a> on Tuesday evening the building was never at risk of collapse, calling the incident \u201cnothing more than a typical construction mishap.\u201d Berman said the construction project was \u201cwell engineered, well thought through and well executed, with the exception of those two columns that could not take the load.\u201d FDNY chief John Esposito<\/a> said Tuesday the way the building is constructed means it is likely not at risk of a total collapse, but instead \u201cmore of a localized collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n surprising fact<\/p>\n City officials received complaints about unsafe conditions at the building as early as spring 2025, according to The City Reporter<\/a>, which cited records that described incidents of falling debris and two worker injuries at the building last year. New York\u2019s buildings department charged the building\u2019s general contractor with more than $32,000 in fines, primarily for construction safety violations, since July 2025, according to The City Reporter. <\/p>\n what do we know about the building?<\/p>\n The high-rise is located near Grand Central Station in Midtown East, on the 200 block of 42nd Street. Pfizer moved<\/a> its offices to the building in 1961, relocating from another building across the street. Pfizer announced<\/a> in 2016 it would sell the building and search for a new office space in New York, and in July 2018, the building was jointly purchased by real estate investor David Werner, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Deutsche Bank and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board for a reported<\/a> $363.5 million. Werner and Metro Loft Management announced<\/a> in 2024 the building would be converted into an apartment building with 1,500 units, which Manhattan\u2019s then-borough president Mark Levine said would be the largest such conversion in the city\u2019s history. Demolition of the building\u2019s interior began in 2024, and the New York Times reported<\/a> the project was scheduled to be completed by 2027.<\/p>\n what have local officials said?<\/p>\n Earlier Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> said Tuesday morning there are no injuries reported and all construction workers have been accounted for, adding about 400 children have been evacuated from a nearby school. The FDNY said in a post<\/a> on X shortly before noon EDT on Tuesday it remains on scene while partner agencies investigate reports of structural issues. New York\u2019s emergency notification system also alerted<\/a> residents Tuesday morning of potential traffic delays in the area and urged people to use alternate routes. <\/p>\n further reading<\/p>\n