📰 General · CNN
Live updates: Officials ‘confident’ high-rise at risk of partial collapse in Manhattan is being stabilized - CNN
From CNN via USVI News: New York officials said late Tuesday night they are “confident” the installation of temporary shoring is stabilizing an under-construction Midtown Manhattan building that was evacuated after structural columns buckled.
New York officials said late Tuesday they are “confident” temporary shoring has helped stabilize a Midtown Manhattan high-rise that is under construction after structural columns buckled Tuesday, triggering warnings of a possible partial collapse. Multiple nearby buildings remain under evacuation orders.
After emergency jacks were installed to stabilize the building’s weakest points, crews began adding new steel supports, improving stability and allowing workers and materials to move safely into the structure, NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said late Tuesday.
Officials have lifted the evacuation of some buildings around the site, but four nearby buildings remain under evacuation orders, Tigani said. A fifth building is under a partial evacuation with only businesses on the ground floor impacted.
The first signs of trouble came just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, when the New York City Fire Department received reports of a structural issue at the building, which is being converted from office space into apartments. The project, expected to be completed next year, will add 19 floors to the existing 10-story building at 219 East 42nd Street and renovate the neighboring 33-story tower at 235 East 42nd Street, according to architectural firm Gensler.
The damage at the building is “nothing more than a typical construction mishap,” developer Nathan Berman of MetroLoft, which is the firm converting the building, told The New York Times. The buckling of support columns was likely caused by added weight, Berman told the Wall Street Journal. MetroLoft did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The skyscraper has been the subject of multiple complaints, including allegations of falling debris and unsafe conditions, records show. A construction worker also suffered a “grave injury” last year at the same building, according to a lawsuit. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit have denied the allegations.
The evacuations around the skyscraper drew confusion and frustration from people working and staying in the area with evacuated hotel guests hauling suitcases out of the danger zone.
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