Some evacuation orders and street closures remain as work continues on a NYC high-rise that buckled

Several blocks of midtown Manhattan have been evacuated as structural columns of a high-rise construction site appear to buckle and crack.

NEW YORK -- Crews worked through the night to shore up a massive, under-construction apartment building in Manhattan after some of its columns buckled and floors sagged, triggering widespread evacuations and street closures over concerns about a collapse.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed Wednesday that there has been no additional movement in the building, the former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, since Tuesday morning. The structure was deemed stable late Tuesday.

Four nearby buildings remained under evacuation orders Wednesday and normally busy midtown streets around the construction site were closed. After the structural issues were reported Tuesday, a nearby school, the Israeli consulate and a number of hotels were among the buildings evacuated.

“The building is stable and yet we are going to continue to prioritize the safety of all in that immediate area,” Mamdani said.

Temporary shoring and beams were installed on floors 18 through 23 of the building, and additional supports will be added throughout the day as crews make their way to the roof and down to ninth floor, according to Mamdani.

Once the emergency repairs are complete, the city’s Department of Buildings will conduct a “rigorous assessment” to ensure the plans and the site are fully compliant with all codes before any non-emergency work proceeds, the mayor said.

On the streets surrounding the massive construction site, everyday life seemed to be slowly returning, with people walking dogs, pushing strollers and riding bikes. Residents and some hotel guests were let into a cordoned-off street near the building.

Authorities responded to emergency calls at the building early Tuesday to discover two mangled support beams and sagging floors on its 21st floor. The building itself, along with a wide stretch of a bustling area not far from the Grand Central transit hub and the Chrysler Building had to be evacuated and closed to pedestrians.

On-site contractors were eventually allowed to reenter the building to do the emergency repairs after city officials did a floor-by-floor inspection. The building was empty other than the workers.

The renovation project is billed as the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history, creating some 1,600 units of housing. The plans call for transforming a pair of office buildings by adding more than a dozen storeys atop one tower and redesigning another tower.

MetroLoft, the project developer, has said the building itself is not at risk of collapse and that no debris fell from the building, though Nathan Berman, the firm’s founder has acknowledged the added weight from widening the top 15 or so floors of the building likely caused the damage.

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By Philip Marcelo and Anthony Izaguirre, The Associated Press

Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak contributed to this story.