The threat of a collapse of the 37-story building in Manhattan is “extremely serious,” stated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The New York Times, citing authorities, had earlier reported that a building in New York undergoing construction was evacuated due to the risk of collapse. Later, the television channel PIX11, citing firefighters, announced that five floors had collapsed inside the structure. Mamdani clarified that nearby buildings, including a school, had also been evacuated, noting that the building remains unstable.
“This is an extremely serious situation, and I am grateful to our emergency responders for their swift arrival at the scene,” Mamdani told reporters.
According to Mamdani, the first reports of structural issues at the construction site came in around 8:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Moscow time). Emergency crews and officials from the Department of Buildings who responded to the call discovered damage to load-bearing structures on the 21st floor: two columns had become deformed, and there were multiple cracks and sagging floor slabs.
The high-rise is located in the very heart of Manhattan, in close proximity to Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, and the United Nations headquarters. Previously, this building housed the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which developed one of the COVID-19 vaccines. The property is currently undergoing renovation—it is being converted from an office complex into a residential building.
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