The developer responsible for a Manhattan skyscraper, which triggered concerns of a collapse due to bent columns that led to evacuations, is downplaying the fears. They describe the structural damage as a “localized situation” and assert that it never endangered the building’s stability.
MetroLoft said in a statement obtained by NBC 4 New York on Wednesday that the developer worked closely with New York City’s Department of Buildings to confirm the building “is now stable,” and that it has “a clear plan to fix” the issue.
“This is a localized situation affecting less than 30 apartments out of over 1,600. At no time was the building or any portion of it at risk of collapse,” the statement explained.
Inspectors evaluate a bent support beam inside 235 East 42nd Street on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
On Tuesday, emergency personnel identified two bent support columns and sagging floors within the 37-story building. This discovery led to the evacuation of construction workers and residents from nine surrounding buildings.
Nathan Berman, the founder of MetroLoft, addressed the situation in an interview with the real estate publication The Real Deal, stating that the collapse fears had been “blown a little bit out of proportion.”
“This is a 1.3 million-square-foot project with an issue at the building’s northwest corner,” Berman told the publication, noting that the building has a “huge base that is as stable as anything in the city.” He said the damage was limited to a roughly 20-by-20-foot section of the building and described the problem as “very fixable.”
The unstable building at 235 East 42nd Street is seen Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Fire officials initially warned of an “extremely dangerous situation” after finding the damaged columns on the 21st floor, though they said the primary concern was “a localized collapse” rather than the failure of the entire 37-story structure.
After emergency crews worked overnight to stabilize the building, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said no additional movement had been detected but vowed to make a full investigation into what caused the situation.
Berman said the damage likely occurred because added weight from the ongoing office-to-residential conversion overloaded two columns, calling it a “freak accident” involving supports that may not have been reinforced sufficiently or may have contained an undetected defect.
“That’s it. There’s no mystery, and there’s no magic,” he said.
A construction worker looks at a buckled support beam inside 235 East 42nd Street, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
He rejected claims from a union official that the project lacked enough structural steel, calling the allegation “total nonsense” and insisting the work had been designed and approved by structural engineers.
The project is converting the former Pfizer headquarters near Grand Central Terminal into roughly 1,600 apartments in what is billed as the largest office-to-residential conversion in New York City history.
Berman said replacing the damaged columns and raising the sagging floors should keep the project on track for its planned 2027 completion.