Building on NYC's East 42nd Street is "safe and stable" after causing evacuations, DOB says
The unstable building on East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan is now "safe and stable," the Department of Buildings commissioner said on Wednesday.
The former Pfizer headquarters became unstable amid an extension from office to residential use, officials said.
After two columns buckled, there were multiple evacuations and street closures on Manhattan's East Side.
Crews made progress shoring up the high-rise overnight after the FDNY responded to reports of falling bricks Tuesday morning.
Inspectors said they are confident emergency shoring operations overnight stabilized the problem.
"We've been monitoring the building for many hours and have not seen any movement," DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said. "Right now, we have been in a consistent, stable and safe situation. We have been able to bring in a plan and materials to stabilize the impacted floors and [are] looking to extend that stability plan to other parts of the building."
Frozen zone shrinks, some evacuations lifted
Five buildings on Second Avenue and East 43rd Street remained under strict emergency evacuation orders Wednesday morning.
City officials said they felt confident in shrinking the frozen zone because the building has not moved.
Second and Third avenues were reopened, but 42nd and 43rd streets remain closed to vehicles.
Officials said the most important task right now is continuing to secure the space, then working to ensure the long-term stability of the building.
The city said it will re-evaluate the remaining evacuations later Wednesday.
"I'm very glad I was safe. I'm glad they're safe. But I live a block away, so I'm glad to shore it up, and I hope everything's OK," area resident Rob Zelniker said.
"It's still a little nerve-wracking knowing it's a work in progress, but I'm hopeful that their judgment and the work they're doing is going to get this resolved sooner rather than later," Nicole Mawhirter said.
Did a building collapse in NYC?
While the building did not fall, firefighters found two load-bearing steel columns buckling on the 21st floor, causing floors to sag.
The threat of a collapse forced the evacuation of nine surrounding buildings, affecting more than 100 nearby businesses.
Construction crews have been working around the clock. They were seen installing steel supports and struts to take the weight off the columns that failed.
"We are not only at the place where emergency struts or jacks are in place to hold up and stabilize where the weak points are, but they are also installing new steel as another emergency intervention," Tigani said.
The department said they are investigating what caused the columns to buckle in the first place.
"I do continue to consider the conversion of office space into residential space as part of our answer to the housing crisis. I also consider that we have to do so safely and in a way that's fully accountable," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. "We are going to be conducting a full investigation as to how we got to this point, because this is not a necessary consequence of an office-to-residential conversion. This, however, is clearly a breakdown in that process."
"At no time was the building ... at risk of collapse," developer says
The developer of the project is MetroLoft.
A mobile billboard near the site reads "Shame on MetroLoft." A representative for the local steamfitters union blamed the building's contractor for using mostly non-union labor to add 16 stories.
MetroLoft issued a new statement Wednesday morning:
"We have been working closely with the Department of Buildings to rectify the situation. Our team worked through the night stabilizing the affected columns, and the DOB has confirmed the structure is now stable. As a result, the evacuation zone has been significantly reduced, roads have been opened and many of the vacate orders have been lifted. We have identified the issue and developed a clear plan to fix it. This is a localized situation affecting less than 30 apartments out of over 1,600. At no time was the building, or any portion of it, at risk of collapse.
"We are in the process of addressing the issue and will fully rebuild this portion of the building in tandem with ongoing construction. We remain on schedule, and this work will not delay delivery of the building as it is such a small portion of the project. We are working around the clock so that operations can resume and life in the area can return to normal.
"While we understand this has drawn significant attention, we want to be clear: this involves a small fraction of the building, and we are already in the process of resolving it. Reports of risk of a collapse were and are inaccurate."
