Midtown 37-Story Tower Caves In on 6 Floors, Forcing School and Hotel Evacuations
Updated
Updated · WABC-TV · Jul 7
Midtown 37-Story Tower Caves In on 6 Floors, Forcing School and Hotel Evacuations
3 articles · Updated · WABC-TV · Jul 7
Summary
Six floors — from the 21st through 26th — began caving in at 235 E. 42nd St. after workers spotted cracks around 8 a.m. and self-evacuated; officials said all workers were accounted for and no injuries were reported.
Buckling support beams on the 21st and 22nd floors and a structural column failure triggered the instability, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying the building was still moving and remained unsafe.
A frozen zone now spans First to Third avenues and 40th to 45th streets, with the Hampton Inn, Kennedy International School and nearby buildings evacuated and several Midtown streets shut.
Engineers are monitoring the 37-story former Pfizer headquarters from outside and plan to install emergency trusses once it is safe to enter; officials said any failure would likely be localized, not a total collapse.
The office-to-residential conversion had at least 22 building violations since 2020, including seven from July to December 2025 that brought more than $32,000 in fines.