Multiple NYC Skyscrapers at Risk of Collapse

A terrifying structural failure inside a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper has raised fresh questions about whether New York City officials are doing enough to protect the public from dangerous high-rise defects.

Construction workers were inside the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street on July 7 when two structural columns suddenly buckled, causing several floors to partially collapse more than 200 feet above the street.

The failure sent portions of the 21st through 26th floors sagging downward and triggered a mass evacuation near Grand Central Terminal. Cracks and other signs of structural stress were later discovered throughout the 37-story office building.

Emergency crews rushed to stabilize the tower, and officials now say there is no immediate threat of collapse. But the shocking incident has left many New Yorkers wondering what other problems could be hiding behind the gleaming glass and concrete facades of the city’s skyline.

Those concerns are especially serious at two high-profile Manhattan skyscrapers already tied up in years of lawsuits, engineering disputes and allegations of major construction defects.

One is a 96-story luxury tower on Billionaires’ Row where residents have complained of cracks, violent swaying and disturbing noises during high winds.

The other is an unfinished 60-story tower in the Financial District that reportedly leans several inches to one side after its foundation shifted in soft riverside soil.

City officials insist both structures are currently stable. However, independent engineers, contractors and residents have raised alarming questions about what could happen if the alleged defects are not properly addressed.

The Department of Buildings reportedly maintains a list of “structurally compromised” properties, but the city has not publicly revealed which buildings are currently included.

That lack of transparency is unlikely to reassure New Yorkers who watched streets around 235 East 42nd Street suddenly shut down over fears that a massive tower could come crashing down.

432 Park Avenue

Standing 1,396 feet above Manhattan, 432 Park Avenue is one of the tallest residential buildings in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most recognizable towers on New York City’s so-called Billionaires’ Row.

Since opening in 2015, however, the ultra-luxury skyscraper has faced an extraordinary list of complaints involving cracks, flooding, elevator failures, loud vibrations and unsettling movement during windy weather.

Residents began reporting problems soon after moving into apartments that sold for tens of millions of dollars.

Some condo owners said the building swayed and creaked during storms. Others reported cracks in walls, ceilings and the concrete exterior.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez purchased a $15.3 million condo in the tower in 2018 but sold it one year later. The former couple said they wanted more space, and there is no evidence their departure was connected to the building’s reported problems.

Independent inspections later allegedly uncovered thousands of serious cracks, including one described as extending 10 inches into the building’s structural core.

The condo board filed a lawsuit against the developers in 2021, followed by another sweeping complaint in 2025.

The later lawsuit accused 56th & Park Owner LLC, the legal entity connected to developers CIM Group and Macklowe Properties, of “deliberate and far-reaching fraud” by allegedly failing to disclose roughly 1,900 construction and design defects before units were sold.

The lawsuit also claimed repeated flooding caused corrosion in steel reinforcing bars inside concrete columns. Other alleged problems included malfunctioning elevators, excessive noise and powerful vibrations.

The developers have strongly denied the allegations and maintain that the tower is safe.

Jami Schlicher, a spokesperson for the defendants, said claims that the facade is dangerously deteriorating are “baseless” and contradicted by the condo board’s own engineers.

Those engineers reportedly classified the facade as SWARMP, meaning “Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program.”

“Assertions that the Sponsor ignored risks are categorically untrue,” Schlicher said, adding that the developers, contractors and their experts continue to dispute the board’s claims.

The New York City Department of Buildings has also said the skyscraper meets current safety standards and does not face an immediate risk of collapse.

However, public records reportedly show that 432 Park Avenue has accumulated 135 open complaints, 145 standard building-code violations and 111 fines or penalties.

Some violations involved loose or potentially falling concrete along the exterior and the alleged failure to install adequate sidewalk protection during repair work.

The city has not issued a major structural “unsafe” violation or ordered residents to leave the building.

Still, several construction experts warned that ignoring the problems could eventually make an evacuation necessary.

Structural engineer Steve Bongiorno, who was not involved in the original project, warned that deteriorating concrete could break loose and windows could eventually become unstable.

“Chunks of concrete will fall off, and windows will start loosening up,” he told The New York Times.

He also warned that ordinary sidewalk sheds may not be enough to protect pedestrians from debris falling from a nearly 1,400-foot skyscraper.

A massive facade repair project estimated to cost $160 million is reportedly scheduled to begin in July 2026 and could take four years to complete.

Condo owners are expected to initially cover the costs themselves while continuing their legal effort to force the developers to reimburse them.

161 Maiden Lane

Farther downtown, an unfinished residential tower at 161 Maiden Lane has earned the nickname “The Leaning Tower of New York.”

Also known as One Seaport, the 670-foot skyscraper rises 60 stories above the Financial District but has never opened to residents.

Construction was halted after the building developed a visible lean of roughly three inches.

The problem has fueled a bitter legal battle between developer Fortis Property Group and contractor Pizzarotti LLC, with both sides blaming the other for the troubled project.

Pizzarotti alleged in a 2019 lawsuit that the developers chose a less expensive method to strengthen the soil beneath the tower instead of installing traditional concrete pilings deep into the ground.

Workers reportedly injected cement grout and other materials into the soil in an attempt to create a firm foundation.

The process was designed to make the ground denser and less likely to shift. However, critics claimed the soft soil near the East River never became strong enough to properly support the massive building.

The disputed method reportedly saved the developer approximately $6 million.

Fortis has denied the allegations, calling them false and defamatory, and has filed counterclaims accusing Pizzarotti of causing the problems.

The tower’s lean eventually became so severe that crews reportedly struggled to install windows and elevators safely.

Workers even attempted to pour additional concrete unevenly on the upper floors, hoping the added weight would pull the building back toward the opposite side.

The plan did not work.

Pizzarotti later hired engineers from Thornton Tomasetti to review the structure.

Engineer Elisabeth Malsch warned that there was not enough information to guarantee that the building would remain safe if construction continued.

“There is insufficient information to assure that the building will remain safe if work advances,” she said.

Malsch said the worst-case scenario of the entire tower toppling onto surrounding buildings was highly unlikely.

However, she warned in a court affidavit that moving forward without a major redesign could cause windows to break and building components to fall from as high as the 58th floor.

Such debris, she warned, could cause “grave injury to persons and property.”

The Department of Buildings has not approved the tower for occupancy, although officials say it remains structurally stable in its current condition.

The city has ordered constant monitoring and regular engineering reports to track any further movement.

Midtown Tower Buckling Triggers Mass Evacuation

The scrutiny surrounding both luxury towers intensified after the frightening failure at 235 East 42nd Street.

Firefighters responding on July 7 discovered that two structural columns had buckled around the 21st floor.

Several floors above the damaged area sagged or partially collapsed, leading authorities to clear the building and shut down surrounding streets.

Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said the structure has not shown additional movement since crews stabilized it.

“If there is any movement or if we sense any movement, we have protocols in place to make sure we’re quickly removing people outside the building to evaluate and reassess,” Tigani said.

The Department of Buildings filed a complaint against the owner, identified in records as 235 Fee Owner LLC, the following day.

The city alleged that construction work had been performed beyond the scope of previously approved plans.

The Midtown emergency was not the first recent example of a New York building suffering a major structural failure.

In 2023, an entire corner of a seven-story Bronx apartment building collapsed after the allegedly unsafe removal of a load-bearing pier during construction, according to a city investigation.

In 2025, a basement wall inside a 17-story Manhattan office building on 59th Street partially collapsed, causing large cracks to form in the foundation.

Despite those incidents, the Department of Buildings has not publicly identified every property included on its list of structurally compromised buildings.

Officials reportedly said they would not be able to respond to a request for the list before October 2026.

For residents, workers and pedestrians who pass beneath New York’s towering skyline every day, assurances that everything is safe “for now” may not be enough.

The buckling of 235 East 42nd Street showed how quickly a routine construction project can become a full-scale emergency.

It also left New Yorkers asking a troubling question: How many other skyscrapers are one hidden defect away from disaster?