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Safety netting installed on buckling NYC building as crews shore up tower
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Jul 12, 2026
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Courtesy NYC Department of Buildings
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Jul 12, 2026
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Crews worked through the weekend to shore up the building in Midtown that nearly collapsed last week — and added netting to one side of the building to prevent any debris from falling, city officials said Sunday.
The city Department of Buildings reported that crews worked in shifts around the clock to install new supports at 235 East 42nd Street, where columns buckled on Tuesday beneath newly added floors.
Workers also put up an exterior netting enclosure on the north side of the tower, which Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said in a video posted to X added an “extra layer of safety”
Emergency responders were first called to the skyscraper on Tuesday morning after a 911 call reported bricks falling from the building.
Concerned crowds gathered in Midtown last week when streets were cleared and offices when a building began to buckle.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
“ We've issued multiple orders to stabilize the building, provide continuous monitoring operations throughout, create engineering reports confirming the safety of the building, hiring a third-party engineering consultant and special inspection agencies to oversee the work separate from the existing crew,” said DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani.
Vacate orders are still in effect for nearby buildings, and East 43rd Street remained closed Sunday between Second and Third Avenues.
Previously known as the Pfizer Building, where the pharmaceutical company was headquartered, the building is now the site of the largest office-to-residential conversion in the country, with 1,600 apartments planned. The sagging section of the building is directly below a horizontal expansion being installed from the 23rd to the 32nd floors. The building was expected to open to new residential tenants next year.
The DOB also said it also ordered the developer to hire a third-party engineering consultant to review the work.
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housing
manhattan
new york city
public safety
Catalina Gonella
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