Authorities in New York City evacuated a street block on Tuesday after a high-rise building under construction became unstable due to pillars bending and floors sagging.
Officials said they feared the Midtown Manhattan building could collapse.
Located near the iconic Grand Central Station, the 1970s office building is currently under renovation, being converted into luxury apartments.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, “Two structural columns have bowed, in addition to numerous cracks and floors have loosened. The building remains unstable. Since arriving at the scene, we have observed additional movement in one of the compromised columns.”
“This is a very serious situation,” Mamdani said. He said no one was injured at the scene and every employee has been identified.
Mamdani said the project engineer was working with structural engineers to develop a plan to shore up the structure.
Officials said emergency struts and beams were being brought in to strengthen the building.
Fire Chief John Esposito said that due to the steel-framed building’s construction, “it won’t be a complete collapse, it will be a more localized collapse.”
school in evacuation zone
Mamdani said that among those evacuated were about 400 students from a nearby school.
Firefighters responded to initial reports of falling bricks at approximately 8 a.m. local time (01:00 UTC), with emergency response vehicles arriving at the scene in a busy corridor near the Grand Central train station and the historic Chrysler Building.
Shortly thereafter, officials found two columns that had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors and floors between the 21st and 26th floors that were bowing.
Nearby roads have been closed to people and vehicles. Mamdani said among those evacuated was a nearby school with 400 students.
The mayor said New Yorkers “will be allowed to return to these buildings only when we are confident that it is safe for them to do so.”
Edited by: Zack Crellin