RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC. Gothamist Listen Live Donate News NYC officials order structural review at building next to buckled Midtown highrise By David Brand Published Jul 30, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET
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The New York City Department of Buildings has ordered the owner of a buckled Midtown high-rise to hire an outside firm to scrutinize structural plans for its building next door, records show.
The order , issued Monday, requires developer MetroLoft to hire another engineering firm to complete a “peer review” of the original structural drawings for the project at 219 East 42nd St. and submit a report by Aug. 14. The building is located beside the former Pfizer headquarters, where two columns partially collapsed earlier this month, prompting the buildings department to stop work at both sites and evacuate the surrounding blocks for most of the day July 7.
City-approved plans for the building at 219 East 42nd St. call for a 21-story addition atop the existing nine-story structure, a conversion that will nearly triple its size and make way for 544 new apartments.
City building codes do not typically require a structural peer review unless a project is taller than 600 feet or larger than 1 million square feet. Both East 42nd Street buildings are smaller than those thresholds.
But several engineers who spoke with Gothamist shortly after the partial collapse said the city should consider revising its rules to require additional outside reviews, especially when developers add new floors to existing structures.
“When you think about the danger of collapse of an existing building in a city like New York with a dense population and buildings that are shoulder-to-shoulder, the consequences are so enormous that peer review should be paramount,” said Abi Aghayere, a structural engineering professor at Drexel University.
City officials have not yet determined the cause of the structural failure at the former Pfizer building at 235 East 42nd St.
Department of Buildings spokesperson Andrew Rudansky said the project owner had commissioned the engineering review “proactively” at the building next door in the wake of the incident at the former Pfizer building.
“DOB formalized this in the order we issued this week, although the project team was already doing this,” Rudansky said.
He said the agency has not identified a “specific issue or problem at 219 East 42nd St.”
The engineer on both Midtown projects, Chris Behan of GACE Consulting, told Gothamist that key steel reinforcing was “never installed ” along the columns on three floors, despite his plans calling for it. Behan did not respond to requests for comment on the department’s peer review order for his other job next door.
A MetroLoft spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the peer review.
The two properties are slated to become the city’s largest-ever office-to-housing conversion project. They are scheduled to open to tenants next year.
Neither site met the criteria for a required peer review based on their sizes. Architectural plans list the building at 219 East 42nd St. at 367 feet tall with 547,496 square feet of floor space and the building at 235 East 42nd St. at about 430 feet tall with 667,000 square feet.
Structural engineer Eric Cowley said a review could add another layer of protection against errors in a large-scale conversion project.
“Everyone is capable of making a mistake,” Cowley said. “It helps to have another pair of eyes.”
But Cowley said a review would not prevent other problems unrelated to design. He said he wondered about the frequency of inspections while construction work is happening, whether the plans were followed, or whether contractors left heavy equipment and materials weighing thousands of pounds in areas that add even more weight to strained columns.
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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