Overview
- Tuesday morning FDNY crews responded to reports of falling bricks and found two buckled columns and sagging floors roughly between levels 21 and 26.
- Officials evacuated the former Pfizer tower and nine nearby buildings, closed 42nd and 43rd Streets between 1st and 3rd Avenues, and moved a nearby school with about 400 children as a precaution.
- No injuries were reported and all workers inside the site were accounted for, city officials and the FDNY said as engineers began stability checks.
- The tower is part of a major office-to-residential conversion by developer Metro Loft with design by Gensler, and inspectors noted that added floors on a lower section are a focus of the structural review.
- Investigations and stabilization work are ongoing by the Department of Buildings, FDNY and the developer with public details on the building’s exact floor layout still being clarified and further safety orders possible.