A large-scale emergency evacuation operation has blocked the central part of Midtown Manhattan in the area of Grand Central Terminal.
The cause is a sudden and critical structural failure in the 37-story skyscraper at 235 East 42nd Street - the iconic building known as the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
“The beams bend like cigarettes“: Timeline of incident
The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) was called at around 8:00 a.m. local time after reports of bricks falling from the facade. Officers who arrived at the scene were alerted by construction workers on the 21st floor, who noticed that the massive steel profiles were giving way.
“The supporting beams between the 21st and 25th floors buckled and part of the structure slightly collapsed. We had to run fast against all odds“, 50-year-old construction worker Fernando Sanchez told the media. According to witnesses inside the building, the beams began to “bend like cigarettes“ under the enormous weight.
Footage from inside the building, filmed by workers and released by the FDNY, shows deformed steel columns, cracks and visible sagging of floor slabs between the 21st and 26th floors.
Mayor Mamdani: “The situation is extremely serious“
At an emergency briefing, New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani announced that the situation is being monitored minute by minute.
“The building remains unstable. After the arrival of emergency teams on the ground, we witnessed additional displacement in one of the compromised columns“, said Mayor Mamdani, urging citizens to avoid the area.
Fire Chief John Esposito reassured that due to the specific steel structure of the skyscraper, there is no risk of a complete “domino“-style collapse, but the danger of “local collapse“ of the affected floors is very real. The area is being continuously monitored with tactical drones.
Hundreds of children and nine neighboring buildings have been put on alert
Due to the threat, authorities imposed a large-scale “frozen zone“ – streets from 40th to 45th between First and Third Avenues are closed to pedestrians and cars.
At least nine neighboring buildings, which house more than 100 businesses, hotels and residential areas, were evacuated. Local television station PIX11, whose studio is located directly across from the dangerous skyscraper, was forced to interrupt its broadcast and evacuate, and journalists later continued their broadcast directly from a makeshift studio on the street.
More than 400 children were also quickly evacuated from a nearby school. Thanks to the rapid intervention of the FDNY and police have no reports of any injuries to residents or construction workers. By the evening hours, only residents of an apartment building on 44th Street were allowed to return to their homes after an inspection. Other employees in the area were told they may not be able to access their offices for several days to two weeks.
Background and violations of the site
The project, led by the company MetroLoft, envisions transforming the iconic 1970s corporate complex into the largest residential building in New York City history, created through the conversion of office space. The plan includes the construction of more than 1,600 luxury apartments. Architects revealed that the incident occurred because an upgrade was currently underway - builders were adding 11 new floors above the existing 22-story section of the complex. With the addition of the new infrastructure, the load on the old load-bearing columns became critical.
A check of the Department of Buildings (DOB) records shows that the site has a history of accidents. Over the past year, contractors have accumulated a total of seven serious violations and fines worth tens of thousands of dollars. In July 2025, the company was fined for glass falling from the 8th floor onto a safety tent on the sidewalk, and in August 2025, a metal panel fell from the 33rd floor directly onto the street, which then led to a temporary halt to construction activities.
Massive lawsuits are expected to begin to determine the exact responsibility among investors, architects, and engineers for allowing this structural crisis to occur. Currently, teams of metallurgists and steel fabricators are working to install emergency bracing and beams on the 20th and 21st floors to stop the building from moving and move to permanent repairs.