Manhattan High-Rise Evacuated as Structural Columns Buckle

Structural columns buckled at Manhattan office-to-residential conversion, forcing evacuations and emergency stabilization efforts.

Objective Facts

Two structural support beams on the 21st floor of the 37-story building at 235 East 42nd Street buckled at approximately 8:10 a.m. on July 7, when construction crews noticed the structural failure. The 37-story building in midtown Manhattan near Grand Central Terminal, formerly Pfizer's global headquarters, was evacuated after the columns buckled, with no injuries reported, and the building is being converted into a luxury rental complex. Developer Nathan Berman told the Wall Street Journal that additional weight added during construction on the upper floors likely caused the columns to buckle, stating "This additional load that we put on those floors caused those two particular columns to collapse." By late Tuesday, New York officials said they are "confident" temporary shoring has helped stabilize the structure, with emergency jacks installed to stabilize the building's weakest points and new steel supports added. Prior to the incident, the building had seven construction safety violations in 2025, with penalties totaling over $32,000, including a $10,000 violation for failing to notify the DOB of a construction incident resulting in injury.

Deep Dive

The project represents the largest office to residential conversion in New York City's history, with a projected finish for 2027. The building's upper 15 floors, beginning on the 22nd floor, were undergoing renovations to expand outward, making them wider than the floors below. As more infrastructure was added to the floors above the 21st floor, the load-bearing columns became more stressed. The structural failure occurred on a floor already weakened by renovation work, suggesting a design or engineering review gap: the two support beams that visibly buckled on the 21st floor may not have been properly reinforced. NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said the office-to-residential conversion underwent "an extensive, exhaustive review" by DOB during the past two years. This creates a tension: despite city oversight, prior violations, and professional engineering involvement, the load calculations for a major expansion failed. The developer's account differs substantively from the structural risk. Developer Nathan Berman called the damage "nothing more than a typical construction mishap." Berman told the WSJ the damage was limited to a small portion of the building and did not threaten the integrity of the rest of the structure. However, city officials were less reassuring during the acute crisis: FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said the building showed "continual movement" and "It does mean that it is not yet stable. It is still a very serious and dangerous situation." This disagreement—between the developer's minimization and the firefighters' live assessment—reflects the uncertainty engineers faced when the columns were actively failing. The weeks ahead will determine whether this was an isolated load miscalculation or a symptom of broader vetting gaps in large conversion projects. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing as engineers determine the root cause of the failure and develop a long-term repair plan. While the Pfizer conversion had seven DOB violations last year, another large conversion at 111 Wall Street generated 10 construction safety violations since the beginning of 2025, and another at 25 Water Street had eight such violations during the same period. Whether this points to systemic oversight issues or contractor-specific problems will shape future conversion oversight in the city.

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Manhattan High-Rise Evacuated as Structural Columns Buckle

Structural columns buckled at Manhattan office-to-residential conversion, forcing evacuations and emergency stabilization efforts.

Jul 8, 2026
What's Going On
  • Two structural support beams on the 21st floor of the 37-story building at 235 East 42nd Street buckled at approximately 8:10 a.m. on July 7, when construction crews noticed the structural failure.
  • The evacuation was triggered after columns buckled, with no injuries reported but multiple surrounding buildings evacuated as a precaution.
  • New York officials said late Tuesday they are "confident" temporary shoring has helped stabilize the structure, with emergency jacks installed to stabilize the building's weakest points and new steel supports added to improve stability.
  • Developer Nathan Berman told the Wall Street Journal that additional weight added during construction on the upper floors likely caused the structural columns to buckle.
  • The building had seven OATH violations related to construction safety in 2025, with violations totaling over $32,000 in penalties, including a $10,000 violation for failing to notify the DOB of a construction incident resulting in injury.
Objective Deep Dive

The project represents the largest office to residential conversion in New York City's history, with a projected finish for 2027. The building's upper 15 floors, beginning on the 22nd floor, were undergoing renovations to expand outward, making them wider than the floors below. As more infrastructure was added to the floors above the 21st floor, the load-bearing columns became more stressed. The structural failure occurred on a floor already weakened by renovation work, suggesting a design or engineering review gap: the two support beams that visibly buckled on the 21st floor may not have been properly reinforced. NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said the office-to-residential conversion underwent "an extensive, exhaustive review" by DOB during the past two years. This creates a tension: despite city oversight, prior violations, and professional engineering involvement, the load calculations for a major expansion failed.

The developer's account differs substantively from the structural risk. Developer Nathan Berman called the damage "nothing more than a typical construction mishap." Berman told the WSJ the damage was limited to a small portion of the building and did not threaten the integrity of the rest of the structure. However, city officials were less reassuring during the acute crisis: FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said the building showed "continual movement" and "It does mean that it is not yet stable. It is still a very serious and dangerous situation." This disagreement—between the developer's minimization and the firefighters' live assessment—reflects the uncertainty engineers faced when the columns were actively failing.

The weeks ahead will determine whether this was an isolated load miscalculation or a symptom of broader vetting gaps in large conversion projects. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing as engineers determine the root cause of the failure and develop a long-term repair plan. While the Pfizer conversion had seven DOB violations last year, another large conversion at 111 Wall Street generated 10 construction safety violations since the beginning of 2025, and another at 25 Water Street had eight such violations during the same period. Whether this points to systemic oversight issues or contractor-specific problems will shape future conversion oversight in the city.