New York emergency services closed several streets and evacuated hotels, offices, and homes in Manhattan on Tuesday after the structural columns of a skyscraper under construction buckled, firefighters reported.
The 38-story building that housed the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, near Grand Central train station and the UN headquarters, is being remodeled to convert the offices into residences.
The construction developer insisted that there was no risk of the entire building collapsing.
However, municipal authorities warned that the situation remained serious as they worked to determine if the structure was safe enough to enter and carry out repair work.
Officials indicated that emergency struts and beams would be installed to reinforce the building.
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“Two structural columns gave way, in addition (there are) multiple cracks and sunken floors. The building remains unstable. Since we arrived at the scene, we have witnessed additional movement in one of the compromised columns,” said New York City Council member Zohran Mamdani.
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No one was injured and all workers involved in the building’s conversion have been accounted for, Mandami noted. He added that the project engineer was working with structural engineers to develop plans to shore up the tower.
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Nearby hotels, businesses, and apartments were evacuated and several streets were closed as a precautionary measure while police and firefighters searched the area, according to an AFP correspondent.
A drone was deployed to allow authorities to assess the extent of the damage.
The mayor stated that New Yorkers will be able to “re-enter these buildings when we have full confidence that it is safe for them to do so”.
Local cable channel PIX11 was forced to abandon its studio near the affected building mid-broadcast following an evacuation order.
The project will have a total area of 1.3 million square feet and will bring approximately 1,600 luxury rental apartments to the market, according to its developers.
Its completion was scheduled for early 2027, and it would be the largest office-to-residential conversion in the history of New York City.
“We want to confirm that the affected area is a small section of one of the two buildings at this site,” said developer Metroloft. “The building in its entirety is not at risk of collapse.”
