{"id":5335,"date":"2026-07-08T06:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T06:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335"},"modified":"2026-07-08T06:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T06:04:51","slug":"manhattan-high-rise-deemed-stable-after-columns-buckled-and-some-evacuations-are-lifted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An under-construction Manhattan high-rise at risk of collapse was stabilized late Tuesday and some evacuations of nearby buildings were lifted.<\/p>\n

Read more AP honors Breanna Stewart as one of the top women\u2019s college players during the Top 25 poll era<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been monitoring the building for many hours and have not seen any movement,\u201d Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, said during a news conference Tuesday.<\/p>\n

By nighttime, residents were allowed back into several of the seven buildings that were evacuated as a precaution.<\/p>\n

The scene unfolded after columns were spotted buckling on Tuesday morning at the 1970s-era building, which is being converted into luxury apartments. Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings \u2014 including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels \u2014 in the busy corridor of midtown were rushed out after firefighters were called there around 8 a.m. Mayor Zohran Mamdani described it as \u201can extremely serious situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials going floor-by-floor later found no additional movement of the damaged columns, giving on-site contractors the greenlight to move forward with emergency repairs, his office said. On Tuesday evening, workers could be seen shoring up the damage inside the gleaming glass-and-steel high rise.<\/p>\n

That work is expected to continue, impacting a part of Manhattan near the famed Grand Central train station that is a hub for metro area commuters and residents as well as tourists.<\/p>\n

Fears of collapse prompted evacuation orders<\/h3>\n

The building, which is the former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is located just down the street from New York City icons like the Chrysler Building and the United Nations headquarters.<\/p>\n

Leila Bozorg, one of Mamdani\u2019s deputy mayors, said it was \u201cencouraging\u201d the building did not appear to be shifting as officials went up into and past the damaged floors on their way to the 37th floor \u2014 the top floor \u2014 of the building.<\/p>\n

From the street below, a badly bent structural column could be seen through a large glass window on the 21st floor. The fire department, which also posted images of the column, said they found multiple cracks and sagging floors as well.<\/p>\n

Asked earlier in the day if there was concern of a collapse, Fire Chief John Esposito said the way the steel-framed building is constructed, \u201cit would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localized collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby buildings and streets remained evacuated for much of the day, including a school and the Israeli consulate just across the street. The former Pfizer building itself was empty at the time, other than for the construction workers.<\/p>\n

Ramesh Yallappa, a tourist who was among those evacuated from a nearby hotel, said he initially feared it was a fire in the hotel when an immediate evacuation was ordered Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moment, we were really really scared,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Developer says new addition led to damage<\/h3>\n

With more than 1,600 units, the developers say the project is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city\u2019s history. Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project, says on its website that it is transforming a pair of 1970s-era office buildings by adding more than a dozen stories and redesigning an adjoining tower.<\/p>\n

Building department records show the project has been fined by the city for several safety violations, including glass and metal falling off the building, along with an incident where a worker fell off a ladder.<\/p>\n

Spokespersons for Gensler and MetroLoft, the project developer, didn\u2019t return messages seeking comment. <\/p>\n

Read more Royals\u2019 Tyler Tolbert ties MLB record with hits in 12 straight plate appearances<\/a><\/p>\n

But in a statement to The New York Times, MetroLoft stressed that the building itself is not at risk of collapse and that no debris fell from the building.<\/p>\n

Nathan Berman, founder of MetroLoft, told The Wall Street Journal that the added weight from widening the top 15 or so floors of the building likely caused the damage. The two columns that buckled may not have been properly reinforced, he told the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy those particular two columns and nothing else? We don\u2019t know,\u201d Berman told the Journal. \u201cWe\u2019re investigating that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He maintained the building\u2019s integrity wasn\u2019t compromised.<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety-five percent of the building, the structure is sound and intact,\u201d Berman told the Journal. \u201cThere is no way that this corner of a small extension all of a sudden topples this building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts say more extensive repairs likely needed<\/h3>\n

Emily Guglielmo, a structural engineer based in California, said the buckled columns are likely not repairable and will need to be removed and replaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these things \u2014 cracking, deflections, sagging \u2014 those elements are probably not salvageable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Replacing the columns will require rigorous analysis, and the repairs will be expensive, experts said.<\/p>\n

The short-term solution is shoring up the structure and the floors, said Abi Aghayere, a professor of structural engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Shoring involves installing four-legged scaffolding to temporarily carry the load that the structure is supposed to carry until the columns can be replaced, Aghayere said.<\/p>\n

Yi Bao, associate professor of civil engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, said the building could be damaged beyond the buckled columns, which could have forced the loads to be redistributed to different parts of the building.<\/p>\n

Ed Miller, an area resident, said he walks under the building\u2019s scaffolding several times a day, but will find other routes home going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe building was pretty old,\u201d said Miles Grant, who said he used to work at the building. \u201cIt definitely needed a lot of work to become ready for residential.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to correct that city officials revised the building\u2019s height to 37 stories, not 38.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Izaguirre reported from Lindenhurst, New York. Associated Press reporters David R. Martin in New York, Jessica Hill in Las Vegas and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

Read more Pirates\u2019 Ryan O\u2019Hearn sets club record with 10 RBIs during 3-homer night vs. Braves<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An under-construction Manhattan high-rise at risk of collapse was stabilized late…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nManhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An under-construction Manhattan high-rise at risk of collapse was stabilized late...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335\"},\"wordCount\":1012,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335\",\"name\":\"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=5335#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An under-construction Manhattan high-rise at risk of collapse was stabilized late...","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted","datePublished":"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335"},"wordCount":1012,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335","name":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-08T06:04:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1dae46defe3dbcf719ba81a0f3409f9a.webp","width":1280,"height":853},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5335#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Manhattan high-rise deemed stable after columns buckled, and some evacuations are lifted"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}