Crews worked through Wednesday to prop up a Manhattan high-rise that buckled, while four nearby buildings remained under evacuation orders, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced. The building, located at 235 E. 42nd Street and formerly the Pfizer headquarters, is undergoing a conversion from offices to apartments.
Temporary shoring and beams were installed on the building's 18th through 23rd floors Wednesday morning, with work continuing up to the roof and down to the ninth floor. The structural issue was discovered Tuesday on the 21st floor.
Following the discovery, the building was evacuated, along with surrounding streets and several adjacent buildings. A "frozen zone" was established, restricting pedestrian and vehicle traffic below the structure.
Officials reduced the frozen zone on Wednesday to East 42nd and 43rd Streets between Second and Third Avenues, but maintained full vacate orders for four buildings. One additional building is under a partial vacate order affecting a ground-floor restaurant.
Mayor Mamdani confirmed that there had been no additional movement of the structure since Tuesday morning and that it continues to be monitored while emergency work is underway. The cause of the structural failure is currently under investigation by the city's Department of Buildings.
