By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- FDNY and city officials evacuated a 37-story Manhattan office tower undergoing conversion to luxury apartments Tuesday after structural columns buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors, causing bricks to fall into Midtown streets during morning rush hour.
- The former Pfizer global headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street, located near the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Terminal, experienced sagging floors between the 21st and 26th levels; the building remained unstable and continued moving as emergency personnel assessed structural integrity.
- A nearby school housing approximately 400 children and surrounding buildings were evacuated; all construction workers inside the office tower were accounted for with no reported injuries.
- Engineers deployed drones to monitor the building rather than sending personnel inside; the planned residential conversion, designed by architectural firm Gensler, is billed as the largest office-to-residential conversion in city history with more than 1,600 units planned.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani and FDNY Chief John Esposito characterized the incident as extremely serious and dangerous, with nearby streets closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
NEW YORK — FDNY and city officials evacuated a major office tower undergoing residential conversion Tuesday morning after discovering that two structural columns had buckled, causing debris to fall into Midtown Manhattan streets during the morning rush hour.
Fire Department personnel received reports of falling bricks around 8 a.m. from the 37-story tower located at 235 East 42nd Street. Emergency responders discovered that columns had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors, and floors were sagging between the 21st and 26th levels.
The building is the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer and is being converted to luxury residential apartments as part of a major mixed-use development project. The conversion project, led by architectural firm Gensler, is characterized as the largest office-to-residential conversion in city history. The planned complex includes more than 1,600 residential units along with additional new construction atop the existing structure.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a press conference at the scene and characterized the situation as extremely serious. “The building remains unstable. This is an extremely serious situation,” Mamdani said.
FDNY Chief John Esposito confirmed the ongoing structural instability. “It is not yet stable. It is still a very serious and dangerous situation,” Esposito stated, noting that the building has continued to shift and move as emergency personnel have been on scene.
All construction workers inside the office tower were accounted for, and no injuries were reported. A nearby school housing approximately 400 children was among the buildings evacuated. Additional surrounding structures were also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Engineers are working to stabilize the damaged floors and assess structural integrity. The city is deploying drones to monitor the building, reducing the necessity to send personnel inside to conduct manual inspections of compromised structural areas. Nearby streets have been closed to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
The city’s Department of Buildings has assigned inspectors and engineers to assess the situation. Officials stated that public safety remains the top priority as crews work to stabilize the structure and determine the cause of the column failure.