Overview
- Two interior support columns on the 21st and 22nd floors buckled and floors sagged on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of the 37-story former Pfizer building and several nearby properties with no reported injuries.
- Crews installed emergency shoring and support beams spanning roughly floors 18 through 23 and monitored the structure for hours, with city engineers reporting no further movement and allowing some evacuated residents to return.
- The New York City Department of Buildings has opened a formal investigation while contractors continue round‑the‑clock stabilization work and plan longer-term structural repairs.
- Public records show repeated site complaints and multiple DOB violations and fines since 2025, and parties disagree on cause with developers blaming added weight from upper-floor expansion and union representatives faulting improper shoring and non-union labor.
- The incident has closed streets and disrupted hotels, a school and offices near Grand Central, and it is likely to prompt closer DOB oversight of complex office-to-residential conversions as emergency repairs and code reviews continue.