Chaos: Building Buckles on E. 42nd St. Forcing Evacuation

Steel beams that buckled on July 7 in the former Pfizer HQ that is being converted from a commercial building to a residential apartment complex forced the evacuation of nine buildings and the shut down of a dozen city blocks.

Experts say that some of the floors that were being added atop the 38 story tower at 235 E. 42nd St. may have to be demolished as efforts are underway to shore up the building.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani racing to a press conference near the scene called it a “very serious situation.”

Among the buildings forced to evacuate were a children’s elementary school with 400 students, the Goddard School, a local hospital and surrounding office and residential buildings. Traffic including city buses were being re routed as the area between First and Third Avenues was blocked off as were the East Side streets between 40th and 45th Streets. By July 8, the blocked off zone has retreated to second Avenue but cross town buses and cars were still blocked from driving in front of the building.

The drama began unfolding just before 8:00 a.m. on July 7th, when the FDNY received a call regarding structural issues at the active theconstruction site at 235 East 42nd Street between Second and Third Avenue. The 37-story building is across from the original Daily News Building and current home of WPIX and not far from Grand Central and the United Nations.

Based on video evidence and confirmation by FDNY and the mayor, the structure’s compromise is located on the 21st floor, where two structural columns near the northwest corner of the tower had twisted and bent under the 11-story expansion of the building. This failure led to cracked, sagging floors and buckling metal beams.

“It’s not supposed to happen; columns are not supposed to bend like that,” said Kassey Diaz, a construction worker who was working on the building's conversion at the time.

Buildings within the zone were evacuated, including one hospital, two schools, and a hotel. Many residents and visitors staying in hotels during the day negotiated with the NYPD to access the blocked-off roads, but all were turned away. At 7:30 p.m., residents in a building on 44th Street were allowed to return to their building after being told it was safe.

As a way to move towards affordable housing, many cities are favoring office conversions. City Council's “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity" bill promoted office-to-residential projects such as this one. This process presents many challenges, like zoning requirements, and is the cause of lots of remodeling.

A pedestrian who previously worked in the building spoke with Straus about his concerns. “It's a major issue because, not only can it affect that building but also the neighboring buildings,” he said. “We have great people in the D.O.B.[Department of Buildings], but the great news is that they got everybody out in time.”

Around 3:30 p.m., the deputy mayor Leila Bozorg spoke to the press just outside the barricades, sharing that a team of six surveyors had entered the building, taking the elevator to the 17th floor and beginning an “exhaustive investigation,” assessing each floor to finalize plans to reinforce the damaged floors.

“The building has not moved for several hours,” said Bozorg, even with the crew of surveyors inside and walking around, pointing out that it was encouraging. Bozorg also mentioned that she was grateful for the cooperation of residents within a four-block radius. “ I really appreciated everyone’s patience. I want to say thank you to all the folks that work and live in this area for staying away so we can keep everybody safe.”

Andrew Rudansy, a spokesman for the D.O.B., shared that May 15th was the last time city inspectors were in the building. “Our inspectors did not find any unsafe or illegal conditions during these site visits,” he said.

The building in the Grand Central Business district, one of the most desirable business zones in the city, sold for $375 million in 2018 as Pfizer moved its HQ to Hudson Yards.

The conversion from an office tower to a mixed use commercial and residential tower was one of the flagship conversions in the city as officials wrestle with an affordable housing crisis. City Council’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” bill which was passed last year and supported by then Mayor Eric Adams promoted office-to-residential projects such as this one. But calls for tougher oversight are sure to follow.

David Werner, the CEO of Metro Loft, the developer in charge of the largest commerical to residential conversion in the city said in a statement: “First and foremost, we want to thank the FDNY, NYPD, and DOB for their quick response. The safety of everyone at and surrounding the building is our number one priority. “We’re thankful there were no injuries, and as the DOB clarified, no debris fell from the building. We want to confirm that the affected area is a small section of one of the two buildings on this site. As the FDNY spokesperson noted, the entire building itself is not at risk of collapse.”

But the blowback is already gathering steam, fueled in part because the biggest residential conversion project underway in the city is being built largely by non-union contractors. Indeed by the morning of July 8, a truck commissioned by the Carpenters Union had pulled up to the intersection at East 43rd Street and 43nd Street, two blocks from the stricken building with the words in red: “Crime Scene.” Later in the morning, the sign was changed to read: “Shame on Metro Loft,” the developer behind the project.

One representative for the carpenters union said that the cause of the problem is still under investigation, but he noted that statistically, construction mishaps happen disproportionately on non-union job sites. “They have to stop using predatory contractors,” he said.