The 37-story building complex on 42nd Street in the Midtown district was largely cordoned off.Image: keystone
In the middle of the densely populated New York borough of Manhattan, fears of the feared partial collapse of a high-rise building continue to spread.
07/08/2026, 06:3307/08/2026, 06:33
«Two supporting supports have collapsed; “In addition, several cracks and sagging ceilings were found,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a press conference. Measurements showed that the building was moving. The city administration explained that this was no longer the case in the early evening – so temporary supports could now be installed to secure the building.
The 37-story building complex on 42nd Street in the Midtown district was cordoned off over a large area, examined with fire service drones and controlled using devices that can record displacements in the centimeter range, as the fire department announced. Because it is a steel frame structure, a local collapse is not to be expected, rather than a complete one. “Nevertheless, that remains our concern,” said a fire department official. The situation is “very serious”.
Bent support struts on the 21st floor
The problem with the statics largely affects the 21st floor of the high-rise building. Pictures from inside the building show a collapsed support pillar and bent metal struts. According to the New York Times, workers took the photos before the building was evacuated.
After a later inspection with construction experts, the city administration gave its assessment in the evening that the situation was “consistent, stable and safe”. When asked, however, a spokesman did not want to explicitly say that the risk of a partial collapse had been completely averted. He also could not comment on the cause of the incident until the investigation is pending.
Record project with static problems
The former headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer is currently being renovated – the former offices are to be turned into more than 1,600 apartments. According to the architects, this is the largest such conversion project in the city’s history and the work should be completed in 2027.
The project developer denied any responsibility and spoke of a “typical design error” in the building, which was built in the 1960s. He told the New York Times that the buckled steel beams were probably not reinforced or not sufficiently reinforced. There was no danger of collapse; the false ceilings had probably only sunk by ten centimeters. The project approved by the city administration is “perfect” in itself; completion will only be delayed by a few weeks.
Hotels and school evacuated
The fire department received a call about falling bricks shortly before 8 a.m. local time, according to Lillian Bonsignore, head of the New York Fire Department. The emergency services then declared the surrounding area a restricted zone and several buildings were evacuated. According to media reports, two hotels and a school with hundreds of students also had to be evacuated. All New Yorkers were asked to avoid the area between the famous Chrysler Building and the United Nations headquarters as much as possible.
The area around the affected building is one of the busiest in the metropolis: thousands of people live and work here, as well as countless tourists and countless commuters who use the nearby Grand Central train station as a transport hub. (sda/dpa)