Steel Beams Bent Like Cigarettes Inside NYC's Largest Office-to-Apartment Conversion

A Midtown Emergency Unfolds

It started with a report of falling bricks. By mid-morning on Tuesday, July 7, one of the most ambitious construction projects in New York City history had become a full-scale urban emergency. Two structural support beams on the 21st floor of a 37-story under-construction building in Manhattan started buckling Tuesday morning, triggering mass evacuations, street closures, and a large emergency response. The building at 235 East 42nd Street — the former global headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer — was supposed to be a symbol of New York's post-pandemic revival. Instead, it became a symbol of how quickly that ambition can go wrong.

FDNY found two columns buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors, with floors sagging between the 21st and 26th floors. The imagery from inside was alarming. Cliff Johnson of Steamfitters Local 638, whose workers install fire protection within the building, alleged that the developers had not installed enough steel supports to accommodate the project's increased load. "They obviously didn't add the right amount of steel. So, the north side of that building is crumbling, the I-beams are bending like cigarettes in there, which is super dangerous," Johnson said.

Blocks Frozen, Hundreds Displaced

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the building "remains unstable" and that officials had observed additional movement in one of the compromised columns. He announced a "frozen zone" spanning 40th to 45th Streets between First and Third Avenues, urging New Yorkers to avoid the area. The FDNY launched a major technical rescue, deploying about 40 units and 130 Fire and EMS personnel.

Construction workers were immediately ordered out, and officials evacuated nine nearby buildings. Students at the Kennedy International School on East 43rd Street were also evacuated; a school administrator confirmed roughly 400 children were relocated. The chaos reached guests at the nearby Hampton Inn. "We got a call over the PA, somebody came over the PA and just said, 'Hey, this is not a drill, need evacuation right away,'" said Kevin Oglesvee, who was staying at the hotel. "It was real loud. They said to evacuate onto Second Avenue."

The Biggest Conversion in U.S. History — Now in Question

The project, led by Metro Loft and David Werner with Gensler as architect, is considered the largest office-to-residential conversion in U.S. history. Once complete, the combined redevelopment is expected to deliver 1,602 apartments, including 400 designated as affordable units. The buckling of support columns was likely caused by added weight, developer Nathan Berman told the Wall Street Journal. Berman also characterized the situation as "nothing more than a typical construction mishap." Many observers found that framing hard to square with the scale of the emergency response.

The crisis didn't emerge from nowhere. Before 235 East 42nd Street was evacuated after reports of structural buckling, multiple complaints were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings alleging falling objects and unsafe conditions. The building has 22 violations dating back to 2020, including elevator inspection failures, with 13 still active and $39,000 in penalties owed. The Department of Buildings also filed a new complaint on Tuesday accusing the developers of conducting excavation beyond or contrary to approved plans.

Stabilization Underway, But Bigger Questions Loom

The installation of temporary shoring began at the high-rise after the structural column buckled on the 21st floor. Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said, "We were able to get to the 21st floor to inspect the work that's being done and feel confident that the emergency work is stabilizing the situation." He said jacks were set up to stabilize the structure and new steel was being installed. The agency said there had been no additional movement of the damaged columns since the morning, and the emergency shoring was intended to stabilize the building, with additional work expected to continue in the coming days.

The incident raises harder questions about the city's aggressive push to convert vacant office towers into housing. Office-to-residential conversions are notoriously complex. Adding floors to aging commercial structures — as was happening here — multiplies that complexity dramatically. New York has staked much of its housing strategy on projects exactly like this one. Whether Tuesday's near-disaster slows that momentum, or simply demands stricter oversight going forward, will shape how the city builds its way out of a housing crisis for years to come.