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DisasterColumns buckle at Midtown building: FDNY - The former headquarters of Pfizer is collapsing. The building is being converted from office to residential.
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — A large FDNY response is underway in Midtown after two columns buckled and five floors caved in at a building under construction Tuesday morning.
FDNY said the call came in at 7:57 a.m. for reports of bricks falling from a 33-story high-rise at 235 East 42nd Street.
Floors 21 through 26 of the building caved in, according to FDNY. The building is the site of the former Pfizer location.
The site is an active, permitted construction project to convert the existing commercial office building into residential units, the city’s Department of Buildings press secretary told PIX11 News.
Multiple cracks and sagging floors were reported throughout the building, according to FDNY.
Second Avenue is closed, and East 42nd Street is blocked for access, according to the FDNY. Tape has also been placed on East 43rd Street as crews work to secure the area. Officials have also evacuated buildings around the area.
Workers who were doing construction at the buckled building were evacuated, and no injuries to workers or civilians were reported by FDNY.
A worker told PIX11 News’ Angelo Bavaro that his family called him, fearing the building had collapsed.
14:14
Cliff Johnson of Steamfitters Local 638, who was working inside the building, told PIX11 News that his members were inside when the structure began to fail.
“The general contractor chose to go non‑union for this project. All we want is responsible construction in the City of New York,” Johnson said. “They did not shore up the job correctly. The beams started crumbling, the floors started crumbling, and they might have to evacuate the other side.”
Johnson said the project was a total renovation, with crews gutting the 33‑story building and planning to add another 16 stories.
Commute affected after columns buckle, floors cave in at Midtown building
Evacuations and street closures caused major delays for commuters trying to get to their homes and workplaces.
MTA says the M42 buses are being detoured in both directions. While detoured, eastbound buses will not serve stops on East 42nd Street from Madison Avenue to Second Avenue. Stops will instead be made, as requested, along East 50th Street.
Northbound M101, M102 and M103 buses and M42 buses in both directions are running with delays.
City inspectors are on site investigating and they’re telling commuters to avoid the area.
This is a developing story. Please refresh the page for updates.
4 minutes ago
Officials report the building is "unstable"
B Mitchell
In a press conference, city officials report the building remains unstable. “We have specialized tools to watch the building from and see movement in centimeters or a fraction of an inch… The building has continued to move since we’ve been on the scene.”
10 minutes ago
Cause under investigation
DJACK
The exact cause behind why the building’s columns buckled remains under investigation, particularly to ensure it never happens again, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Tuesday.
13 minutes ago
Former office building being converted to residential
DJACK
Officials say 11 floors were being added to the existing 22 floors of what was once the Pfizer building to convert it into a residential complex. They say that any collapse would be localized instead of the full building due to it being made of steel
19 minutes ago
Mayor Mamdani provides updates on the caving Midtown building
Emily Rahhal
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is on the scene of a caving building at 235 East 42nd Street. Two structural columns initially buckled, and there has been additional movement in one of the compromised columns.
“This is an extremely serious situation,” Mamdani said.
City officials are now awaiting materials to stabilize the building.
20 minutes ago
'Please do not come to the area'
djack
Officials urged the public to avoid traveling to the area around 42nd Street near Third Avenue out of an abundance of caution and safety during a news conference on Tuesday.
42 minutes ago
History of the building at 235 East 42nd Street
Emily Rahhal
The building at 235 East 42nd Street is the former Pfizer headquarters being converted into a residential development.
It was vacant in 2024, when then-Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine announced the project. Ultimately, the building was slated to become 1,500 residential units.
Levine said it was the largest conversion of its type in New York City history.
PIX11 News reached out to a representative of the building’s general contractor.
an hour ago
Photos show columns bent in half
DJACK
Photos taken from inside the Midtown building show the column bent nearly in half moments before workers were evacuated. Officials say calls about the buckling columns began coming in as early as 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
an hour ago
Barricades slowly pushing out
Spencer Gustafson
The FDNY’s barricade for foot and vehicle traffic is slowly pushing outward from the old Pfizer building. Images sent to PIX11 News show the barricade near 40th Street and Second Avenue.
an hour ago
FDNY accessing structural safety
DJACK
The FDNY is sending up drones to assess the safety of 235 East 42nd St. after 10 buildings were evacuated in the area of 42nd Street.
an hour ago
Mamdani, FDNY officials to brief the media
Spencer Gustafson
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and FDNY officials are expected to provide an update on the structural integrity of the old Pfizer building and a safety plan around noon on Tuesday.
2 hours ago
The News Building evacuated
Spencer Gustafson
Officials notified all occupants of the historic News Building at 220 East 42nd St. to evacuate. The News Building, which is the home of PIX11 News and NewsNation, sits directly across from the old Pfizer building.
2 hours ago
Consulate General of Jamaica closes offices
bmitchell
The Consulate General of Jamaica is closing down its offices for the remainder of the day. Offices will remain closed until clearance is issued by the FDNY and the Department of Buildings.
2 hours ago
Building violation history shows $32K in penalties
Emily Rahhal
The building at 235 East 42nd Street had seven OATH violations related to construction safety in 2025, according to Buildings records.
The violations totaled over $32,000 in penalties, including a $10,000 violation in 2025 for failing to notify the DOB of a construction incident resulting in injury.
All seven violations have been resolved, records show.
2 hours ago
More evacuations prompted
Nicole Alarcon
Ten buildings in the area were evacuated as a precaution, according to FDNY.
2 hours ago
School evacuated near Midtown building
Emily Rahhal
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday morning that a school with about 400 students has been evacuated near the construction incident.
“A number of tall buildings in the area are also being evacuated,” Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference. “Luckily, there have been no injuries to report at this time; all workers are accounted for.”
2 hours ago
Video from moments before floors cave in
DJACK
Video from a worker inside the Midtown building shows columns buckled and multiple silver beams bent moments before multiple floors caved in.
0:28
2 hours ago
'Beams started crumbling'
DJACK
A worker from inside the building describes the moment the beams began to bend and the floors started “crumbling.”
Crumbling infrastructure, I wonder if that's a portent of a dying empire? And if you don't believe that's the case, then I have a bridge in Baltimore to sell you... except the bridge doesn't exist because it was destroyed by shitskin pajeets.
Cliff Johnson of Steamfitters Local 638, who was working inside the building, told PIX11 News that his members were inside when the structure began to fail.
“The general contractor chose to go non‑union for this project. All we want is responsible construction in the City of New York,” Johnson said. “They did not shore up the job correctly. The beams started crumbling, the floors started crumbling, and they might have to evacuate the other side.”
I wonder how many supports they took out to try and make it functional housing. I mean just installing the plumbing needed for multiple apartments vs. an office is a hell of a lot of reno. Add in "oh we need open spaces with windows" where load bearing walls were that made offices/backroom spaces, and I can see it losing too much support.
I wonder how many supports they took out to try and make it functional housing. I mean just installing the plumbing needed for multiple apartments vs. an office is a hell of a lot of reno. Add in "oh we need open spaces with windows" where load bearing walls were that made offices/backroom spaces, and I can see it losing too much support.
I suspect this will ultimately be the fault of DSA-aligned bureaucrats who forced the project through and ignored engineers who warned them that what they wanted wasn't possible. Office-to-residential conversions is a BIG part of their "affordable housing" platform and this was the largest such project in NYC.
I wonder how many supports they took out to try and make it functional housing. I mean just installing the plumbing needed for multiple apartments vs. an office is a hell of a lot of reno. Add in "oh we need open spaces with windows" where load bearing walls were that made offices/backroom spaces, and I can see it losing too much support.
There's a cruel joke here about how liberals think it's SO EASY to convert industrial buildings to residential housing. This is shoddy construction work that you'd expect from Chinese infrastructure posing as human ingenuity. The cherry on top is the fact that it's a Pfizer building as somebody else pointed out. I swear life has turned into a drawn out MADtv skit or Idiocracy realized into reality.
Article is confusing on how many floors were being added to the building. The article says sixteen and eleven but someone on reddit posted the permit drawing that says four floors added
If anyone wants to look through the drawings that have been submitted the site is https://a810-dobnow.nyc.gov/, search for job #M01075133
I wonder how many supports they took out to try and make it functional housing. I mean just installing the plumbing needed for multiple apartments vs. an office is a hell of a lot of reno. Add in "oh we need open spaces with windows" where load bearing walls were that made offices/backroom spaces, and I can see it losing too much support.
Removing columns would make sense, looks like the collapse started in an existing part of the building and the live load is way down with the building gutted.
I suspect this will ultimately be the fault of DSA-aligned bureaucrats who forced the project through and ignored engineers who warned them that what they wanted wasn't possible. Office-to-residential conversions is a BIG part of their "affordable housing" platform and this was the largest such project in NYC.
I suspect this will ultimately be the fault of DSA-aligned bureaucrats who forced the project through and ignored engineers who warned them that what they wanted wasn't possible.
I thought bureaucracy was supposed to prolong projects or proposals, not skip through steps to get shit done. Meanwhile, I have to wait an hour or so at the DMV just to update my residency or verify my driver's license.
Yes, and ultimately to make more space for more of them. Seems fitting. Too bad they didn't cram illegals into the building before it started to collapse.
It'll feel like you're right at home in your 3rd world shit hole!
It is, if you're just trying to create soulless bug hives filled with pods. Which is what the commie faggots want. But you're correct that it's hard to convert to real housing.
Crumbling infrastructure, I wonder if that's a portent of a dying empire? And if you don't believe that's the case, then I have a bridge in Baltimore to sell you... except the bridge doesn't exist because it was destroyed by shitskin pajeets.
YPD deploying SRG units and erecting barricades near the building that's in danger of falling. Heavy traffic continues in the area, and Crowds of onlookers gather on the street outside the perimeter.
