Midtown Manhattan buildings evacuated after columns found buckling at high-rise construction site
Engineering teams are installing temporary shoring to stabilize the building
MIDTOWN EAST, Manhattan (WABC) -- Evacuation and frozen zones have shrunk as efforts to stabilize an under-construction high-rise in Midtown Manhattan continued on Tuesday night.
The installation of temporary shoring has begun at a high-rise at 235 E. 42nd St. after a structural column buckled on the 21st floor, said Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani in a Tuesday evening update.
"We were able to get to the 21st floor to inspect the work that's being done and feel confident that the emergency work is stabilizing the situation," Tigani said, and also referenced a third party engineer that has been brought in for another set of eyes.
He said jacks have been set up to stabilize the structure and new steel is being installed to help keep the building stabilized.
Tigani also announced several updates to an emergency evacuation order that was given to several nearby buildings, as well as updates on streets that continue to have restrictions for vehicular traffic.
How the situation unfolded
Around 8 a.m., construction workers noticed cracks inside the building. The FDNY says the workers spotted structural support columns beginning to buckle on the 21st and 22nd floors and self-evacuated. Officials say that caused the 21st to 26th floors of the 37-story building to start caving under the stress.
There were no reported injuries, and all construction workers were safely evacuated, according to police.
The tower, the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is a 1970s-era office building being converted into luxury apartments. It's located in a busy corridor about a block from the landmark Chrysler Building and between Grand Central Terminal and the United Nations headquarters.
Officials stress the "serious" nature of the situation
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said early Tuesday afternoon that the building remained unstable and was "an extremely serious situation."
The fear, officials said, is a partial collapse, which could be internal. A full collapse onto the street is less likely, Fire Chief John Esposito said at Tuesday's news conference.
"The building has continued to move since we have been on scene," Esposito said. "It does mean it is not yet stable."
Esposito said that when first responders arrived, the building had moved, but in the evening press conference, DOB Commissioner Tigani said that they have been monitoring the building for many hours, and have not seen any movement.
"We have monitoring positions set up outside and inside the building. That's allowing us to track the situation," he said. "If there is any movement or if we sense any movement, we have protocols in place to make sure we are quickly removing people outside the building to evaluate and, reassess. But right now, we have been in a consistent and stable and safe situation."
A team of six people was able to enter the building around 3 p.m. and later determined that contractors on-site could move forward with the installation of temporary shoring to stabilize the building.
This emergency shoring is a measure to stabilize the building, and Tigani said the main focus now is implementing a safety plan for Wednesday and the next couple of days, when they'll decide on the future of the building.
"We feel confident in the safety plan," he said.
The building is topped out at 37 floors, and as more infrastructure was added to the floors above the 21st floor, the load-bearing columns became more stressed, officials say.
Building evacuations and street closures
Officials also announced on Tuesday evening that the following buildings remain under an emergency evacuation order and may not be occupied at this time:
- 815 2nd Avenue
- 235 East 43rd Street (The Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central)
- 231 East 43rd Street
- 225 East 43rd Street
- 217 East 43rd Street (Partial evacuation of the building. Just the restaurant on the ground floor)
Officials said they continue to assess conditions and will provide updates on reentry as soon as it is safe to do so.
Among the original evacuated buildings was 225 East 43rd Street, the Kennedy International School. The school was running a summer camp for 400 children in Pre-K through 5th grade this week.
The Israeli Consulate at 800 Second Avenue was also evacuated "as a precaution."
Residents in a building located at 222 E. 44th St. have been told they can return.
As for street closures, all vehicular traffic is restricted on 42nd and 43rd Streets between Second and Third Avenues. If you live or work in the areas on 42nd and 43rd Street, and not in one of the buildings under a vacate, you will be able to access the area. Otherwise, all traffic and pedestrian restrictions have been lifted at this time.
Mamdani said those who live or work in the frozen zone will continue to get updates.
Investigation into building's history of complaints and violations
The 37-story commercial building is currently undergoing renovations to convert it into a residential building, according to the DOB. It is one of the largest office-to-apartment conversion projects in city history, officials said.
Before Tuesday, the unstable building received two dozen other complaints since last year, ranging from a worker blowing material off of the roof with a leaf blower, to a worker falling from a ladder that wasn't on a flat surface, to a large item falling through five floors and almost hitting someone.
In almost all of the cases, the building did not receive a formal violation because inspectors didn't observe anything wrong when they got to the construction site.
Metro Loft, the developer of the conversion project, said in a statement that it is working with the Department of Buildings as it investigates the situation.
"The safety of our workers and the public has always been, and remains, our top priority," the developer said.
The cause of the instability will be determined after the emergency trusses are in place, according to the buildings commissioner.
"There is an active investigation underway about what brought us to this point - I think our focus right now is making sure this site is safe, this building is safe, this neighborhood is safe," Mayor Mamdani said.
The mayor added that the investigation will continue because the city wants to make sure if anything was done incorrectly, that these actions are not ones that are repeated.
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