The former Pfizer headquarters was under construction as part of a major office-to-apartment conversion.
NEW YORK CITY, NY — Buckling columns inside a Midtown Manhattan high-rise under construction forced mass evacuations Tuesday after workers reported cracking and movement at the former Pfizer headquarters near Grand Central Terminal.
The structural emergency at 235 East 42nd St. drew a large response from firefighters, police, city building inspectors and engineers. Officials said the tower remained unstable hours after the first reports, with sagging floors and movement in part of the structure. No injuries were reported, but nearby buildings, streets and sidewalks were cleared while crews studied the risk of a localized collapse.
Construction workers first noticed cracks and structural problems around 8 a.m. inside the building, officials said. The site was already active as crews worked on one of New York City’s largest office-to-residential conversions. Workers saw columns beginning to buckle around the 21st and 22nd floors and left the building before emergency crews arrived. Fire officials later said floors from about the 21st to the 26th stories showed signs of stress or sagging. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it “an extremely serious situation” and said the city’s first concern was protecting people in and around the work zone.
The tower sits in a dense part of Manhattan between Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building and the United Nations area. Officials ordered evacuations from the high-rise and nearby properties as a precaution. Reports from the scene said at least nine surrounding buildings were cleared, including a school, a hotel and offices. Streets around East 42nd Street were shut down, and a wider frozen zone blocked traffic and pedestrians while engineers examined the structure. The city did not immediately say when people would be allowed to return to evacuated buildings.
Fire Department leaders said drones were used to inspect areas that were not safe for crews to enter. Images from inside the structure showed bent steel and damaged framing on an upper floor. FDNY Chief John Esposito said a full collapse was considered unlikely because of the building’s steel frame, but officials were concerned about a partial or localized collapse in the damaged area. The cause of the buckling was not immediately known. City officials said engineers still had to determine whether the problem came from design, construction, materials, load changes or another factor.
The building is the former global headquarters of Pfizer and has been undergoing conversion from offices into apartments. The redevelopment has been described by city and real estate officials as one of the largest office-to-housing projects in the country, with plans for roughly 1,500 to 1,600 apartments, including affordable units. The project is part of a broader push to reuse older Manhattan office buildings at a time when demand for housing remains high and some commercial properties have struggled to refill space after the pandemic changed work patterns.
MetroLoft, the project’s developer, said the affected area involved a small portion of one building and said the tower was not at risk of total collapse. Officials said the statement did not end the city’s review, and emergency crews continued treating the site as unstable. Gensler, the architecture firm tied to the conversion, did not immediately issue a public explanation of the structural failure. Department of Buildings inspectors were reviewing the site, permits and conditions, while emergency responders kept the area closed to limit risk from falling debris or further movement.
The project had drawn city attention before Tuesday’s emergency. Building records cited by news outlets showed previous complaints and violations tied to construction safety, including reports involving falling debris and worksite conditions. Those earlier records do not by themselves explain what happened Tuesday, and officials did not say they had linked the buckling columns to any past violation. Investigators were expected to examine recent work on the upper floors, the sequence of construction, the added loads on the frame and the way the building was being modified for residential use.
By Tuesday afternoon, emergency teams were preparing to bring in temporary steel beams and columns to stabilize the damaged section. Officials said the work could not begin until engineers decided it was safe enough for crews to enter or work nearby. The city also planned continued monitoring for movement in the structure. Police and fire officials kept blocks closed as inspectors assessed the building floor by floor. No charges had been announced, and city officials did not provide a timetable for when the evacuation zone would shrink.
The emergency interrupted one of the busiest corridors in Midtown. Office workers, hotel guests, school staff and residents were moved away from the tower as firefighters set up command posts and closed streets. Video from the area showed emergency vehicles lining East 42nd Street and crowds gathering beyond police tape. City officials praised the workers who left the building after noticing the damage and said the early evacuation helped prevent injuries. A construction worker who spoke to news outlets described steel members bending sharply inside the tower, underscoring the force visible on the damaged floor.
As of Tuesday evening, the building remained under emergency review, with inspectors and engineers focused on stabilization. The next major step was installing temporary supports after officials determined crews could work safely inside or near the tower.
Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.