New York, Jul 8 (PTI): The building housing the Permanent Mission of India to the UN was among the several premises evacuated in Midtown Manhattan after structural damage rendered an under-construction high-rise “unstable”, raising concerns of its potential collapse.
The Indian Mission building, located just over a block away from the United Nations headquarters, houses offices, as well as residences of Indian diplomats and other officers.
Sources said all Indian diplomats and their families are safe and following necessary precautions in the wake of the evacuation orders.
The mission in New York is housed in a 27-story red granite building built in 1993. The building was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa and is located between 43rd and 44th Street just off Second Avenue.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the situation as “extremely serious” and added that no injuries have been reported so far from the incident and every worker has been accounted for.
Giving a detailed account of the situation, Mamdani said that around 8 am Tuesday morning (local time), the New York Fire Department received reports of a “structural issue” at an “active construction” site between Second and Third Avenues on 42nd Street in Manhattan.
The Indian Mission, located just across the street from the troubled high-rise, shares the area with several other UN missions, UN agency officers, prominent hotels and restaurants, residences and businesses.
The troubled building, which was previously the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is a 37-story high-rise with active permits to convert it from a commercial office building to a residential building.
First responders from the fire department and the Department of Buildings responded to the call immediately and found “structural issues on the 21st floor,” Mamdani said.
Two structural columns in the building have buckled, in addition to multiple cracks and sagging floors.
“The building remains unstable,” Mamdani said, adding that “additional movement” has been witnessed in one of the compromised columns.
First responders and structural engineers are working closely with the project engineer to develop plans to shore up the impacted floor.
“This is an extremely serious situation,” Mamdani said as he expressed gratitude to first responders for securing the area and initiating the evacuation plans.
New York City Fire Department Chief John Esposito said, “It’s a very serious situation because the box beams — the steel beams — have started to bend and deflect from the weight. We evacuated the building and started evacuations of surrounding buildings. The building has continued to move since we have been on the scene.” FDNY’s drones have provided technical information and visuals for partner agencies as assessments are conducted. All workers were accounted for as of 1 pm Tuesday. Approximately 150 FDNY fire and EMS members responded to the scene.
The New York Police Department has instituted a “frozen zone” from 40th to 45th streets between First and Third Avenue, temporarily closing off these streets to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Mamdani urged New Yorkers to avoid the area until it has been deemed safe to reenter. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said her team is in close contact with city officials following the incident in Midtown Manhattan.
NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services is on the scene and the State stands ready to provide any assistance needed, she said.
Hochul called on people to avoid the area as emergency crews continue their work.
Comptroller of New York City Mark Levine said in a post on X that the building is “at risk of a localized collapse” due to two structural (load-bearing) columns buckling on the 21st floor. He said there are also multiple cracks and sagging floors.
“The building remains unstable, and city officials have witnessed continued movement of the building since around 8 am this morning aided by the use of FDNY drones,” he said.
Authorities are looking for an opportunity to enter the building to shore up the 21st floor by installing beams to spread out the load.
“That opportunity would only be possible once the building has been deemed stable. This is a steel-frame building, meaning a collapse would not be a total one, but more localized,” according to FDNY.
There will also be investigation “into what caused this dangerous situation,” Levine said. PTI YAS VN VN
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
