'Buckled' beams and 'sagging' floors at a NYC high-rise building force evacuations
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Jordan Tovin/Reuters
- Bricks fell from a Manhattan tower that formerly held Pfizer's global headquarters on Tuesday morning.
- The incident sparked a large emergency response and the evacuation of several buildings.
- FDNY said it found "buckled" columns and "sagging" floors at the high-rise at 235 East 42nd Street.
A Manhattan high-rise that once served as Pfizer's global headquarters was evacuated Tuesday morning after bricks plunged from the 38-story tower, sparking a large emergency response and the clearing of several neighboring buildings.
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New York City Fire Department officials said that after emergency responders arrived at the under-construction building at 235 East 42nd Street in Midtown, they found two support columns "buckled" on the 21st and 22nd floors, as well as "sagging" floors between the 21st and 26th floors.
The 38-story tower at 235 East 42nd Street.FDNY
The FDNY initially received a call about falling bricks just before 8 a.m. ET, according to officials.
Seven other surrounding buildings were evacuated as a precaution as city officials assessed the scene, fire officials said.
Several Manhattan buildings were evacuated.Jordan Tovin/Reuters
No injuries were reported, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that all construction workers who had been inside the building at 235 East 42nd Street were accounted for.
"Multiple cracks and sagging floors were found at the 21st floor," Mamdani told reporters during a press conference.
Sagging floors were discovered at 235 East 42nd Street.Jordan Tovin/Reuters
Video footage circulating on social media appears to show structural steel beams bending inside the building.
@newyorkcityy__ Steel beams are collapsing #pziferbuilding ♬ original sound - NYC
The former Pfizer headquarters is undergoing a major conversion from office space into a 1,600-unit residential rental development with a quarter of the units reserved for affordable housing.
The former Pfizer building is undergoing a major conversion.Jordan Tovin/Reuters
The project, developed by the firm MetroLoft, is slated for completion early next year and is expected to include ground-floor retail space and 100,000 square feet of amenities.
Representatives for MetroLoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.
MetroLoft says on its website that upon completion, the project will be New York City's "largest office to residential conversion to date."
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