Engineers in New York are racing against time to stabilize a skyscraper under renovation that is on the verge of collapsing.

The 37-story building is still considered dangerous following the serious structural failure that led to the evacuation of nine buildings, a school, hotels, and businesses in the heart of Manhattan.

New York City authorities have now allowed specialized crews to enter the 37-story building, in order to install temporary steel supports that will prevent a possible collapse, while inspections of surrounding buildings continue to determine when residents will be able to return to their homes.

The addition of 15 new floors to the skyscraper is under scrutiny

At the same time, initial assessments by project managers are focusing on the extensive expansion work on the skyscraper.

Nathan Berman, founder and CEO of the development company MetroLoft, told the Wall Street Journal that the upper floors of the building were being expanded to have a larger floor area than the lower ones, which significantly increased the loads the structural framework had to bear.

“The additional load we added to those floors caused these two specific columns to fail,” said Berman, clarifying that the reason only those specific columns were affected is still under investigation.

He maintained that approximately 95% of the building remains structurally sound, though he was unable to explain what caused the specific failure.

The skyscraper, which housed Pfizer’s headquarters until 2018, is being converted into a complex with more than 1,600 apartments, and the plan calls for the addition of more than twelve new floors.

The building’s history raises questions

The case becomes even more intriguing because, according to data from the Department of Buildings cited by Fox News, the project had already come under scrutiny by New York regulatory authorities on numerous occasions.

The agency’s database lists 22 violations, for which the owners owe approximately $39,000 in fines. Thirteen of these remain active.

Video from a worker inside the Midtown building shows columns buckled and multiple silver beams bent moments before multiple floors caved in. See the latest: https://t.co/lgH632z6TN pic.twitter.com/6GW521Pc5T

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) July 7, 2026

Among the violations is an incident from last August, when a metal panel detached from the 33rd floor and fell onto the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, the owner and the construction company are already facing a lawsuit filed in late 2025 by a worker, who was seriously injured when a wooden platform collapsed at the construction site.

The lawsuit cites inadequate worker safety measures, such as the absence of safety nets, proper scaffolding, and other accident prevention measures.

Video from the scene shows chaos as commuters try to navigate street closures caused by a Midtown building collapse. See the latest: https://t.co/lgH632z6TN pic.twitter.com/1bIayKdMN5

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) July 7, 2026

“You don’t often see steel bending in New York”

Criticism from construction workers’ representatives was also strong.

“It’s not something you see often in New York. We have one of the best workforces in the world. When you see a building’s steel frame bending while it’s under construction, it shows that the wrong contractors were chosen and that profit was prioritized over safety,” Cliff Johnson, a spokesperson for the Steamfitters Local 638 union, told Fox News.

Hundreds of people remain away from their homes

Despite the start of stabilization work, the scene around the building remains chaotic.

Nine buildings are still within the exclusion zone, while hotels, offices, residences, and the Kennedy International School, where approximately 400 children were participating in a summer program at the time.

Many residents were told they would be allowed to return for only a few minutes to retrieve personal belongings, with no clear timeline for the full lifting of restrictions.

“I don’t know what to do. I’ll probably stay at a friend’s house tonight,” a local resident told the New York Post, while others described leaving their homes without medication, luggage, or basic personal belongings.

Video from inside the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street shows steel columns buckling on the 21st floor of the 37-story Midtown Manhattan tower under construction.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: "The building remains unstable… this is an extremely serious situation." pic.twitter.com/7X7Zkg5WGa

— Sinan Tuncdemir (@tuncdemirsinan2) July 8, 2026

Inspections of the building are ongoing

The New York City Department of Buildings, in collaboration with the Fire Department, the Police Department, and other agencies, continues to monitor the skyscraper’s condition around the clock.

Experts will assess the building’s structural integrity and the effectiveness of the temporary reinforcements on a daily basis, before deciding whether the exclusion zone can be gradually lifted or whether even more extensive interventions will be required in one of the largest office-to-residential conversion projects currently underway in Nea Yo.

Source: iefimerida.gr