Anything Pfizer touched turned to...

[samhexum]

New York City firefighters established a “collapse zone” after an under-construction high-rise building near New York City’s Grand Central Terminal was evacuated over fears that it would collapse.

Emergency responders were called to 235 East 42nd Street just before 8 a.m. Tuesday after workers noticed structural support beams beginning to buckle on the 21st and 22nd floors. There were reports that bricks were falling off the 37-story structure. Officials said they found multiple cracks and that the floors between the 21st and 26th floors were sagging.

The Midtown East building was once home to offices for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, but is being converted into a residential building with over 1,600 apartments. The project was slated to be completed in 2027.

“Two structural columns have buckled, in addition to multiple cracks and sagging floors. The building remains unstable,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

There were no injuries reported, and all construction workers were accounted for, Mamdani said.

There were 50 units and over 150 fire and EMS personnel at the scene at around noon.

After first responders determined the building was unstable they started evacuations of the building and the surrounding areas, “establishing a collapse zone,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said during the press conference.

Fire officials said if the building, which has a steel frame, were to collapse, it would be more localized, and not a total collapse.

Still, several nearby buildings, including a hotel and a school, have been evacuated as a precaution, the New York City Fire Department told The Independent.

Video obtained by Pix 11 showed construction workers looking on as several columns inside the building buckling under pressure. Meanwhile, construction worker and Steamfitters union rep Cliff Johnson told local media that there weren’t enough steel beams added to the building before it underwent the renovations.

“They obviously didn’t add the right amount of steel, so the north side is crumbling,” he said. “The I-beams are bending like cigarettes in there, which is super dangerous.”

Meanwhile, officials are using FDNY drones to examine the building. The New York City Department of Buildings was also at the scene investigating reports of structural issues.

“First responders have advised commuters to avoid the area and use alternate routes,” the agency said.

Mamdani noted during the press conference that officials were having a “minute-by-minute” assessment of the situation, but their main focus was keeping New Yorkers safe.

“We have evacuated not only the building, but also seven buildings around it. I really do appreciate the way in which New Yorkers have responded to this situation,” he said. “We've seen that they have followed the instructions that have been provided by first responders on the ground, and that has been immensely helpful to ensuring that those first responders can be focused on the work at hand.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was working with city officials following the incident, and that New York State Department of Homeland Security was on the scene.

“The State stands ready to provide any assistance needed. Please avoid the area as emergency crews continue their work,” she said.

Officials said their investigation is ongoing.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:31 PM by samhexum
for shits and giggles

[+ Just Chuck]

There’s a deputy fire chief who’s both thinking, “This is awesome to be in charge of” and “Oh crap, I hope I don’t mess this up!"

[Luv2play]

This reminds me of when we were kids, we would construct house of playing cards of 5 or 6 stories. Then the trick was to remove as many cards as possible and still have the structure stand. 
It took a steady hand and good eye for which cards could be removed safely without having the whole structure collapse.

I guess that’s where the expression “house of cards” came from. Anyone else here who played that game?