New York Construction Report staff writer
Work on the conversion of a 37-story Manhattan office building into apartments was halted Tuesday morning, after two structural columns buckled and multiple floors cracked and sagged, prompting evacuations, street closures and an ongoing effort by city officials and engineers to stabilize the building before investigators can determine what caused the failure.
At about 8 a.m., the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) received a 911 call reporting bricks falling from the upper floors of the building under construction at 235 E. 42nd St. The 37-story structure is undergoing a conversion from commercial office space to residential use under active Department of Buildings (DOB) permits.
According to officials, steel box beams have begun bending and deflecting under the building’s load. While awaiting additional materials needed for stabilization, DOB engineers have been using FDNY drones to assess conditions inside the structure from a safe distance.
Fire Chief John Esposito said all construction workers were safely accounted for and no injuries were reported.
“We have specialized tools that we can watch the building from and see movement even in centimeters or fractions of an inch,” Esposito said. “Since we arrived on the scene and put that in place, we have seen continual movement. It does mean that it is not yet stable. It is still a very serious and dangerous situation.”
When first responders from FDNY, the New York City Emergency Management Department (NYCEM) and the DOB arrived on scene, they discovered significant structural distress. Officials said two structural columns had buckled while multiple floors showed cracking and sagging, leaving the building unstable.
“Since arriving on scene, we have witnessed additional movement in one of the compromised columns,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a Tuesday afternoon media briefing. “First responders and structural engineers are working closely with the project engineer to develop plans to shore up the impacted floor. If the floor is deemed to be secure, engineers will enter and begin shoring up the building.”
As a precaution, the New York Police Department established a “frozen zone,” closing streets from East 40th to East 45th streets between First and Third avenues while emergency operations continue.
DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said inspectors and structural engineers have identified significant damage centered on the building’s 21st floor.
“We have seen both buckling and floor conditions that are impaired on the 21st floor,” Tigani said. “We have construction safety inspectors and construction safety engineers on site evaluating from the street and vantage points across the street and to the west so we can monitor movement of the building and the floors to understand what’s happening on a continuous basis.”
Tigani said engineers will not enter the building until it is deemed safe. Once conditions allow, crews will begin installing temporary shoring before conducting a broader assessment for additional structural weaknesses.
“Once we can determine that it’s safe to enter the building, we will then, in concert with the contractors, ownership and with consultation with FDNY, be able to deploy a plan to shore up that floor and then continue to investigate further for any other weak points that need further help and shoring,” he said.
The project is part of New York City’s growing trend of converting aging office buildings into residential housing. According to Tigani, the conversion plans underwent an extensive DOB review over the past two years to satisfy updated building code and structural requirements.
“What is happening now is an investigation of what is the cause of why the undermining happened,” Tigani said. “It’s a conversion of an office building into a residential property. And with that comes certain code changes and structural requirements, all of which have gone through plan review. And now we’re examining what happened now, and we’ll check it against the reviews.”
Officials emphasized that while the building remains at risk, its steel-frame construction reduces the likelihood of a complete structural collapse.
“The way this building is constructed, it’s a steel frame building, so it would not be a total collapse,” Esposito said. “It would be more of a localized collapse. But that remains our concern, that it’s moving.”
As a precaution, seven neighboring buildings have also been evacuated.
“There is extensive work happening right now between the engineers, DOB staff and FDNY to evaluate the situation using the information that we’re bringing from the outside,” Tigani said. “Once we have a secure plan, we’ll be able to bring the equipment that we have now on, and we’re asking the contractor to bring that forward so that we’re ready to go once we have a plan in place.”
Officials have not yet determined the cause of the structural failure. The investigation will continue after the building has been stabilized and engineers are able to safely access the affected floors.
