235 East 42nd Street Manhattan high-rise column failure prompts evacuations and investigations

Two steel columns buckled on the 21st floor of the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street, a 37‑story building being converted into about 1,600 apartments. The incident triggered an evacuation of the tower and surrounding blocks, but no injuries were reported. City officials installed temporary shoring and later stabilized the structure. The New York City Department of Buildings, the Department of Investigation and the Manhattan district attorney’s office have opened a preliminary criminal inquiry into the cause. The project, led by developer MetroLoft and partner David Werner Real Estate, added roughly 15 additional stories to the existing tower, a change experts say likely overloaded the columns. Engineers and academics cited the added load as the probable source of the failure. Legal analysts warn of extensive litigation; MetroLoft already faces multimillion‑dollar lawsuits over other conversions, and the buckling incident is expected to generate further claims and insurance disputes. The development is part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to address New York’s housing shortage through office‑to‑residential conversions.