{"id":3985,"date":"2026-07-08T13:42:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3985"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:42:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:42:39","slug":"nyc-pfizer-building-developer-tries-to-downplay-collapse-risk-insists-high-rise-buckling-is-a-freak-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3985","title":{"rendered":"NYC Pfizer building developer tries to downplay collapse risk \u2014 insists high-rise buckling is a ‘freak accident’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The developer of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper evacuated after its support beams began buckling has described the incident as a \u201cfreak accident,\u201d as he looked to deny that the building was at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n

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At least nine neighboring buildings had to be evacuated on Tuesday after construction workers inside the 37-story building noticed that support columns had started to collapse, during work converting the former Pfizer headquarters into apartments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a freak accident that something occurred with these two specific columns that either were not reinforced or were not reinforced sufficiently, and they gave way,\u201d Nathan Berman, the developer behind the conversion of the building, said in an interview with the Real Deal, a real estate publication.<\/p>\n

Reports of the massive development on East 42nd Street\u2019s impending collapse had been \u201cblown a little bit out of proportion,\u201d Berman insisted, after heart-stopping video showed buckled support columns on the 21st story.<\/p>\n

Berman also dismissed accusations that the builders hadn\u2019t used enough steel to support the added weight of the renovations, made by Cliff Johnsen of Steamfitters Local 638.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTotal nonsense. This was well designed and approved by structural engineers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

He added that the building \u201cwas never at risk of collapse,\u201d describing the issues as \u201cfixable,\u201d blaming the bent columns on the added weight during construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very simple. You add more load to something that can\u2019t support it, it\u2019ll give way, and that\u2019s what happened, and now it just needs to be fixed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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The developer of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper evacuated after its support beams began buckling has described the incident as a “freak accident,” as he looked to deny that the building was at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nNYC Pfizer building developer tries to downplay collapse risk \u2014 insists high-rise buckling is a 'freak accident' - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3985\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYC Pfizer building developer tries to downplay collapse risk \u2014 insists high-rise buckling is a 'freak accident' - 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