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Engineer behind buckled high-rise says crucial reinforcing steel was 'never installed'
By
David Brand
Published Jul 16, 2026
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
David Brand
Published Jul 16, 2026
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The engineering firm that designed the structural plans for the city’s largest office-to-housing conversion project says reinforcing steel meant to support the weight of a 14-story addition to the building was never installed before a pair of columns collapsed there last Tuesday.
City-approved structural drawings, first reported by Gothamist, show engineers from the firm GACE Consulting Engineers called for reinforcing plates along the length of the two columns that buckled, causing floors above to sag and city officials to evacuate surrounding blocks for fear of a full collapse. Department of Buildings officials have not yet released their final determination over what caused the severe structural failure.
But GACE Principal Engineer Chris Behan blamed the incident on a failure to install the crucial reinforcement on three floors, including the 21st, where the collapse occurred.
“The reinforcement from the 19th floor to the top of the 21st floor, which would have significantly increased the columns’ strength, was never installed,” Behan said in a written statement. “The structure was not reinforced as GACE’s design required.”
A spokesperson for the developer, MetroLoft, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about GACE’s assertion when contacted Thursday. In an interview the day of the structural failure, MetroLoft Principal Nathan Berman said he suspected the two columns were not properly reinforced. Berman has declined interview requests from Gothamist.
A spokesperson for the Department of Buildings declined to comment on whether the reinforcing steel was installed in response to GACE’s claim.
“Our investigation into the structural failure at 235 East 42nd Street is ongoing, and we have not yet made any determinations on what factors led to the incident,” said Buildings spokesperson Andrew Rudansky.
Structural plans submitted to the Department of Buildings depict the reinforcement requirements for the steel columns.
New York City Department of Buildings
The near-catastrophic structural failure on July 7 prompted city officials to evacuate the 37-story high-rise, where construction crews have been turning the former Pfizer headquarters into a 1,600-unit apartment complex. The Department of Buildings deemed the building structurally sound later that day and completed emergency work to shore up each floor between the 9th and rooftop.
As part of the project, MetroLoft expanded 10 stories immediately above the collapsed columns and added four additional floors to the original 33-story structure.
Two engineers who reviewed the plans obtained by Gothamist said photos of the contorted columns did not appear to match the drawings. The reinforcement would have turned the I-shaped columns into solid steel boxes.
“It looked to me that it wasn’t there,” said Chris Cerino, past president of the Structural Engineers Association of New York, of the reinforcing steel prescribed in the plans. “It didn’t look like the drawings did.”
Structural engineer Eric Cowley said the columns, covered in fireproofing material, did not appear to be reinforced.
“I would have expected that to look like a box instead of an ‘I’,” Cowley said.
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new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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