The former Pfizer global headquarters building in Manhattan, New York, where an evacuation order was issued on the 7th (local time) due to collapse concerns. [UPI=Yonhap News]The high-rise building in Manhattan, New York, which had been under an evacuation order due to concerns over a potential collapse, has regained stability following overnight reinforcement work.

According to the New York Times (NYT), CNN, and other reports on the 8th (local time), New York City officials carried out emergency reinforcement work at the site from the previous day through early this morning.

Emergency hydraulic jacks were installed to support the building at the 21st-floor column, which had buckled under the load, and additional steel supports were welded into place in the surrounding area.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated in a briefing that morning that temporary supports had been installed to reinforce the damaged building and that there had been no further movement of the structure.

A report regarding a structural issue at the 37-story building, located in a busy area of Manhattan, was received around 8:00 a.m. the previous day.

Upon discovering that two steel columns on the 21st and 22nd floors had buckled and that flooring on some levels had sagged, authorities issued an evacuation order for nine surrounding buildings and completely shut down traffic in the area.

The developer suggested that the increased load from the building's vertical expansion may have caused the structural defect.

Nathan Berman, head of the development firm MetroLoft, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the deformation of the two columns appeared to be due to the added weight from an expansion that included adding 15 new floors starting from the 22nd level.

Berman noted, however, that the damage was limited to a section of the expansion, stating, "95% of the building is structurally sound, and there is no risk of a sudden collapse."

Traffic in Manhattan, New York, was restricted on the 7th (local time) due to concerns about building collapse. [EPA=Yonhap News]

The building in question was constructed in the 1960s and served as the former global headquarters for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer; it was currently undergoing remodeling to be converted into a residential facility with approximately 1,600 units.

The project involves not only renovating the existing building but also adding 19 new stories on top of an adjacent 10-story building constructed in 1905, effectively connecting the two structures.

In New York, there has been a surge in projects converting aging office buildings, which have faced higher vacancy rates since the COVID-19 pandemic, into residential apartments.

As this approach is seen as a way to reduce urban vacancies and increase housing supply, the city of New York has been actively encouraging it through measures such as tax incentives.

Converting offices into residential facilities is a large-scale undertaking involving extensive structural, plumbing, and mechanical work. U.S. media outlets reported that the process of integrating existing older structures with new additions is structurally far more complex and carries greater risks than standard new construction.