Manhattan tower 'stable' after bent columns sparked evacuation

Wednesday, 8 July 2026 10:16

Fears a Manhattan tower might collapse have eased after pictures of a buckled support column sparked an emergency evacuation.

Nearby buildings including a school, hotels and the Israeli consulate were evacuated yesterday in what New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called "an extremely serious situation".

The 37-storey 1970s building is being converted into a residential development, but pictures through a window revealed an internal column looking precariously bent.

Fire chief John Esposito told reporters any collapse wouldn't be "total" but "more of a localised collapse".

An inspection found two buckled columns on the 21st floor, as well as sagging floors and multiple cracks.

However, no other movement was detected and the city's buildings department said construction workers had begun emergency repairs.

"We've been monitoring the building for many hours and have not seen any movement," said department head Ahmed Tigani.

By nighttime, residents were allowed back into some of the seven evacuated buildings, and workers could be seen shoring up the damage inside.

Building department records show the project has previously been fined for safety violations, including falling glass and metal falling and an incident where a worker fell off a ladder.

The developer Metroloft says it is part of the largest office to residential conversion in New York's history and more than 1,600 units will be created.

Nathan Berman, the founder of MetroLoft, told The Wall Street Journal the extra weight from widening the top 15 or so floors likely caused the damage and the two columns that buckled might not have been properly reinforced.

"Why those particular two columns and nothing else? We don't know," Mr Berman told the publication.

"Ninety-five percent of the building, the structure is sound and intact," he added. "There is no way that this corner of a small extension all of a sudden topples this building."

Sky News