Midtown building remains unstable as buckled columns keep moving; evacuations still in place
'Buckled' columns at NYC high-rise construction site force evacuation of 8 buildings
Eight budlings were evacuated after two buckled columns were discovered at a active construction site in New York City. FOX 5 NY's Richard Giacovas has the latest details.
NEW YORK CITY - A major Midtown Manhattan thoroughfare remains gridlocked and seven surrounding buildings have been evacuated after two columns buckled inside a high-rise construction site, rendering the building highly unstable.
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with officials from the FDNY and the Department of Buildings, revealed that specialized monitoring equipment has detected ongoing, continuous movement inside the structural framework of the building.
The backstory:
The FDNY initially responded to a 911 call at 7:57 a.m. regarding reports of bricks falling from the upper floors of the building. While arriving units did not find immediate evidence of debris falling into the street, interior assessments exposed a far more severe structural crisis on the 21st floor.
Two load-bearing columns were found buckled under the weight of the upper floors. The structural failure has resulted in sagging floors and multiple severe structural cracks on the 21st floor.
FULL: Mamdani, FDNY, DOB update on NYC unstable building, buckled columns
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as the FDNY, held a presser on Tuesday to provide an update after two buckled columns were discovered at a Midtown construction site.
Chief of Department John Esposito confirmed that high-tech monitoring tools and FDNY drone units have tracked continuous shifting in the compromised columns since emergency crews arrived on the scene.
"It does mean that it is not yet stable," Esposito stated, noting that while a total building collapse is unlikely due to its steel-frame architecture, the threat of a localized collapse remains.
Closures and evacuations
Local perspective:
More than 150 fire and EMS personnel alongside 50 emergency units flooded the area to establish a secure perimeter. Officials confirmed that every construction worker has been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported.
To protect the public from a potential collapse, the NYPD has instituted a strict "Frozen Zone" completely closed to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic from 40th Street to 45th Street, between First Avenue and Third Avenue.
Seven surrounding buildings, including nearby offices, hotels, and schools, have also been completely evacuated.
New York residents and commuters are being strongly urged to completely steer clear of the area to allow emergency operations to proceed unimpeded. Officials state that displaced occupants will not be permitted back into the evacuated buildings until they are completely confident the site is secure.
Inside NYC building buckle: Structural engineer breaks down emergency evacuation
Brian Faulkner, a structural engineer from Severud Associates, analyzes why the building's columns may have failed and outlines the immediate steps crews and the NYC Department of Buildings are taking to stabilize the structure.
What they're saying:
A New York City Union Iron Workers representative who responded to the scene said the situation is "super dangerous."
"I don’t see anyone coming back to this job for a month at least," he said. "And whoever comes back in, it’s going to be a company that’s going to come in to make it safe first. Then it’s going to be assessed again. But when you have this type of turnaround... I’ve been in construction 21 years, and I’ve never seen a beam bent in half. So this is super dangerous."
Construction project
Dig deeper:
The building at the center of the crisis is an active commercial-to-residential office conversion project.
According to the DOB Commissioner, the architectural plans underwent an exhaustive, two-year review process before receiving approval. The structure features a baseline 22-story section and a taller 37-story section. Contractors had recently "topped out" a new 11-story vertical extension built directly on top of the 22-floor element.
An active investigation is underway to determine whether the load added by the vertical residential extension played a role in undermining the structural integrity of the 21st floor.
Buildings evacuated as columns buckle at Midtown construction site
The FDNY received a call Tuesday morning reporting that bricks were falling from a building in Midtown. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders determined that two columns had buckled on the 21st floor of the building.
Stabilization plan
What's next:
Engineers from the DOB and the project’s private contractors are working in tandem to deploy an emergency shoring layout.
Before structural engineers can enter the high-rise, the building’s minute-by-minute movement must drop to a threshold deemed safe enough for crews to operate.
Once cleared, teams will enter the 21st floor to install heavy-duty emergency struts and trusses. These temporary systems are designed to artificially absorb and spread the building’s massive load away from the buckled columns, stabilizing the structure so a long-term forensic engineering investigation can safely begin.
What we don't know:
It is still unclear what caused the columns to buckle, or the extent of the damage caused by the structural compromise.
Officials say it is still unknown when the "Frozen Zone" will be lifted or when the occupants of the seven evacuated surrounding buildings can safely return.
The Source: Information from this article was provided by the FDNY and Department of Buildings.