Steel Columns Buckle in Midtown Conversion | New York City News

New York City News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 10, 2026 · 1m

A major Manhattan office building, once Pfizer’s HQ, faced a shocking structural collapse this week—two steel columns buckled, forcing evacuations and halting a high-profile adaptive reuse project. While the incident highlights the inherent risks of converting aging office towers into apartments, experts reassure that the engineering behind these complex transformations remains sound. The likely culprit? Added weight from widening upper floors, a challenge common in post-pandemic urban densification. Though rare, such failures underscore the need for heightened scrutiny in a city where…