00:00A high-rise building under construction in Manhattan remained at risk of collapse on
00:05Tuesday after two of its support columns buckled, prompting emergency evacuations as engineers
00:11raced to stabilize the structure.
00:14Residents and workers described the incident as terrifying and shocking.
00:18It's not supposed to happen.
00:20Columns are not supposed to bend like that, you know.
00:23But who knows, you know, I don't know, honestly.
00:28What can happen?
00:29Anything can happen.
00:29I don't know.
00:31I've never seen this before, so I can't tell you.
00:34I've lived here for six and a half years.
00:37I've never seen a building almost collapse, especially this close to Midtown.
00:41It's pretty wild.
00:43The New York City Fire Department said it received reports just before 8 a.m. local time of bricks
00:48falling from the 37-story building on East 42nd Street.
00:53Emergency crews discovered two buckled support columns on the 21st and 22nd floors.
00:58With several floors showing signs of sagging.
01:02Authorities evacuated nearby buildings, including a school, and closed surrounding streets to
01:08both pedestrians and vehicles.
01:10No injuries were reported.
01:13It's definitely scary.
01:14You know, I'm just, I'm happy that they've evacuated people, they've had enough time to
01:17evacuate people.
01:18I haven't heard of anybody being injured yet, so that's the good news.
01:23So hopefully they can get the situation rectified and hopefully there's not more damage coming through.
01:29New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani said the situation remained critical because the building
01:35continued to shift hours after the emergency was first reported.
01:39This is an extremely serious situation and I am thankful to our first responders for quickly
01:45arriving at the site and to New Yorkers for reacting calmly and with urgency.
01:51I am grateful to report that there have been no injuries at this time and that every worker
01:55has been accounted for.
01:57The NYPD has instituted a frozen zone from 40th to 45th streets between 1st and 3rd avenues.
02:04These streets have been temporarily closed off to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
02:09The NYPD is also deploying additional officers to ensure that the area remains secure.
02:15I want to encourage New Yorkers to avoid the area until it has been deemed safe to re-enter.
02:20The building near Grand Central Station formerly served as Pfizer's corporate headquarters
02:26and is currently being redeveloped into a residential apartment tower.
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