Midtown neighborhood remains in limbo a day after structural emergency shut down blocks

Traffic restrictions continued and several buildings in a busy stretch of Midtown remained under an emergency evacuation order early Wednesday — a day after a structural failure at a building being converted into apartments disrupted the area.

Officials from the city’s Office of Emergency Management said the affected addresses include an Episcopal Church building at 815 Second Ave., the Mission of India at 235 East 43rd St., a Hampton Inn at 231 East 43rd St., a commercial building at 225 East 43rd St.,
and the ground floor restaurant of an apartment building at 217 East 43rd St.

Street closures had scaled down a bit from Tuesday morning, but traffic was still restricted on 42nd and 43rd streets between Second and Third Avenues, according to an overnight update from the agency.

The shutdowns persisted even after Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said the upper floors of the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd St. had been stabilized.

On Tuesday morning, construction workers on the 21st floor reported falling bricks and buckled columns, sparking a massive emergency response. By Tuesday evening, engineers reported no additional movement in the damaged columns and began installing temporary shoring to stabilize the structure, while officials started allowing some nearby residents to return home.

“We were able to visit and get to the 21st floor this evening ourselves to inspect and look at the work that's been done, and we are feeling confident that many of the emergency shoring measures that have been put in place as a result of extensive discussions with the building owner, the contractor, their licensed professionals, is stabilizing the situation,” Tigani told reporters at the scene around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

The updates followed an entire day of uncertainty in the area, as local residents navigated police barricades and wondered when they’d be allowed to resume their normal routines in the neighborhood.

As the evening rush hour began, some drivers sought alternate routes to avoid the closures while commuters scrambled to find new ways home after several Midtown East bus routes were rerouted or delayed.

Loretta Stephens, 64, had just finished her shift as a room attendant at the Millennium Hilton on East 44th Street when she realized she'd have to find another way home to Newark after her usual crosstown bus was diverted.

The Midtown building emergency didn't cripple the city's subway system, so Stephens planned to head underground instead.

"It's gonna take me a little while to get back home," Stephens said. "But we got to do what we got to do."

Stephens was among hundreds of people who stopped to watch the unusually quiet streets in one of Midtown's busiest commercial districts as police officers redirected pedestrians away from the frozen zone.

Despite her office being evacuated that afternoon, Ingrid Nathan, 57, spent part of the afternoon asking officers whether employees would be allowed back into the state economic development agency's office the next day.

She recalled firefighters and police officers going floor by floor through the building to make sure everyone had gotten out safely.

Nathan said she wasn't frightened because friends at neighboring businesses had alerted her to the situation earlier in the day. She said many New Yorkers seemed more curious than fearful.

"New Yorkers are so tough. They're more inquisitive, and want to find out what's going on," she said. "No one was running away from the fire, rather people were getting into the fire."

Among those trying to get a closer look was Rose Patel, who had been on her way to shop at Gap when police blocked her route.

Patel, who lives about 10 blocks away in Hell's Kitchen, said she expected the closures would make everything from walking around the neighborhood to hailing a taxi more difficult.

"This area is supposed to be very busy, like pretty much all the time," Patel said. "It doesn't make sense."

As of Tuesday evening, city officials had not determined the cause of the structural failure. Engineers planned to continue stabilizing the building overnight while officials assessed surrounding buildings and decided when additional residents and businesses could return.