A 37-story Midtown Manhattan high-rise came dangerously close to a catastrophic collapse Tuesday morning when massive support beams buckled under the weight of an 11-floor addition, sending construction workers scrambling to evacuate and forcing city officials to clear nearby buildings, including a school with 400 children.

Construction Zone Turns Crisis Scene

Panicked construction workers at 235 East 42nd Street near Second Avenue spotted two critical support beams bending and failing on the 21st and 22nd floors around 8:11 a.m., according to NYPD and FDNY officials. The building, formerly occupied by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is currently being converted from commercial office space into residential apartments. The structural failure appeared directly linked to the ongoing renovation project that began in 2024, sources confirmed.

Local 638 Steamfitter Cliff Johnsen described the dire situation to reporters gathered outside the unstable structure. The steel beams were bending like cigarettes inside the building, he explained, adding that contractors clearly failed to add sufficient steel reinforcement during the expansion project. The entire north side of the building was crumbling under the crushing strain, with bricks raining down onto the street below.

Evacuation Expands As Structure Shifts

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered the evacuation of surrounding buildings as a precautionary measure, including a hotel and a nearby school housing roughly 400 students. FDNY Chief of Operations John Esposito warned that the steel-frame construction meant the building would experience a localized collapse rather than a total failure, though he acknowledged the structure could potentially pancake into itself. The most alarming development came as officials noted the building continued shifting throughout the morning hours, raising fears of imminent partial collapse.

Pattern of Safety Violations Emerges

Department of Buildings records reveal at least seven construction safety enforcement violations issued to the general contractor, Metro Loft’s 235 GC LLC, between July and December 2025. The same contractor paid more than $30,000 in penalties for those infractions and remained on the project when the beams buckled. The site safety manager reported the structural support failure to city officials Tuesday morning. Police and fire departments shut down all pedestrian and vehicle traffic along East 42nd Street between Second and Third avenues while investigators work to determine what caused the columns to buckle. All construction workers escaped safely with no reported injuries. Metro Loft representatives thanked emergency responders and emphasized that only a small section of one building was affected, contradicting earlier reports of widespread structural damage.