Former Pfizer Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan Remains Unstable After Columns Buckle, Buildings Evacuated

What Happened

Shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday, the New York Fire Department received reports of bricks falling from the 21st floor of 235 East 42nd Street, a 37-story tower a block from the Chrysler Building, between Grand Central Terminal and the United Nations headquarters, according to CP24 and Forbes.

Fire Department Chief John Esposito said inspectors discovered two support columns had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors, with floors sagging between the 21st and 26th floors. The building continued to move after emergency crews arrived on scene.

"It is not yet stable," Esposito said. "It is still a very serious and dangerous situation."

The Building

The high-rise is the former global headquarters of Pfizer, which moved in during 1961. Metro Loft Management is currently converting it into what architectural firm Gensler has described as the largest office-to-residential conversion in New York City's history, per CP24. The project involves more than 1,600 residential units and calls for adding more than a dozen new stories on top of the existing tower.

Gensler did not respond to requests for comment.

Evacuations and Injuries

Multiple buildings in Midtown East were evacuated Tuesday morning, including a nearby school holding approximately 400 children, according to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Surrounding streets were closed to pedestrians and vehicles.

Mamdani confirmed no injuries have been reported and all construction workers inside the tower have been accounted for.

"Our top priority right now is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area," Mamdani said.

Still Moving as of Tuesday Afternoon

At a Tuesday afternoon press briefing, Mamdani said the building remains unstable and that officials have observed continued movement in one of the buckled columns since crews arrived that morning.

Ahmed Tigani, Commissioner of New York's Department of Buildings, said the city is bringing in emergency beams and columns to shore up the structure. Engineers are also using drones to monitor the building rather than send personnel inside. Mamdani told New Yorkers to avoid the area until officials declare it safe.

Cliff Johnsen, business agent for the Steamfitters Local 638 Union, described the damage to the New York Times in stark terms: the "north side of that building is crumbling," with support beams "bending like cigarettes in there."

Prior Warnings the City Received

City officials received complaints about unsafe conditions at the building as early as spring 2025, according to The City Reporter, which cited records describing falling debris and two worker injuries at the building last year.

New York's Department of Buildings charged the building's general contractor with more than $32,000 in fines, primarily for construction safety violations, since July 2025, according to The City Reporter.

Critics argue that $32,000 in penalties is not a serious deterrent for a project of this scale, and that known safety complaints going back over a year should have triggered more aggressive oversight, not just fines. The building is now moving and a school full of children had to be evacuated.

On the other side, the Department of Buildings did issue violations and conduct inspections. Whether the agency had grounds to halt the project entirely based on the documented complaints, or whether the catastrophic column failure was foreseeable from the prior violations, has not been established in the available record.

Metro Loft's Response

Metro Loft Management told Bloomberg in a statement it is "aware of what happened and are working closely with the Department of Buildings to understand the full scope of the situation." The company has not made a more detailed public statement.

What Happens Next

City engineers must stabilize the building before anyone can reenter the surrounding area. The central unresolved question, as of Tuesday afternoon, is whether the sagging floors between the 21st and 26th floors will hold once emergency support columns are installed, or whether the structural damage is severe enough that a controlled demolition of portions of the building becomes necessary. Tigani has not indicated a timeline for either outcome.