The Midtown Manhattan high-rise that suddenly buckled during construction on Tuesday will likely require a partial demolition before it can be rebuilt, according to structural engineering experts, who say the first priority is preventing a potentially catastrophic collapse, the NY Post reports.

Before any demolition work can begin, crews must stabilize the 37-story former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street near Second Avenue. Engineers say immediate efforts are needed to reinforce the compromised structure and reduce the risk of a localized collapse.

Without prompt action, the damaged building presents a “significant danger” and “could collapse,” said Ronald Hamburger, a veteran structural engineer with more than 50 years of experience who also served on the federal investigative team following the World Trade Center disaster.

Hamburger explained that several columns that buckled during construction are now supporting only about one-third of the weight they were originally designed to carry, placing enormous strain on the surrounding beams and columns that remain intact.

To stabilize the tower, engineers will need to install temporary brackets beneath the damaged sections to redistribute the building’s weight and restore balance to the structure, Hamburger said.

He added that the failed columns themselves will ultimately have to be replaced, but that work cannot begin until engineers complete a thorough evaluation of the damage and finalize plans for replacement supports.

“It should be done rapidly, it can’t be done immediately,” he said. “Engineers are going to need to go in and assess just how far the damage has progressed.

“It should be possible to do the repair within a week, stabilizing it, then going about the structural repair,’’ he said.

Emily Guglielmo, a structural engineer and principal at Martin/Martin, cautioned that even entering the building to install temporary supports could be extremely dangerous.

“If it’s possible, in order to limit further evacuation life safety concerns, the quickest fix is to try to get that temporary bracing and shoring in there,” she said, adding it will be a “balancing act” of whether personnel can safely get inside to put supports in “or it’s just too risky of a situation.”

Before anyone enters the structure, engineers will compare the building’s current condition with its original design plans to determine whether it is safe to access and to identify what may have caused the structural failure.

Both experts agreed that portions of the building have suffered irreversible damage and will have to be torn down before reconstruction can begin.

“The images we have seen show … a buckled column, you can see cracking, you can see floors that are sagging, those generally are damage that is not reversible,” Guglielmo explained.

“It’s not like we can just push a cracked floor up and it can maintain its capacity, so there will absolutely be removal and replacement of some of these elements.”

The building, which is being converted from office space into what is expected to become New York City’s largest office-to-residential redevelopment with approximately 1,600 apartments, was evacuated Tuesday after construction workers noticed support columns on the 21st and 22nd floors bending and beginning to fail, according to the NYPD and FDNY.

Authorities quickly established a massive safety perimeter, shutting down nine city blocks as officials monitored the unstable structure.

Only construction workers were inside the building when the emergency unfolded. Everyone evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.

The incident also renewed scrutiny of the project’s safety history. A review of Department of Buildings records, 311 complaints, and lawsuits filed by former workers shows the site had previously faced multiple safety-related concerns.

City records indicate the construction project was cited for seven violations between July and December 2025, resulting in fines totaling more than $32,000.

“This raises some flags,” Hamburger said when asked about the violations.

Sources told The Post that investigators believe Tuesday’s structural failure may be connected to the ongoing project to add 11 additional stories to the existing tower.

Hamburger said investigators are considering several possible causes, including the possibility that columns were subjected to loads far beyond what they had been designed to support because of unexpected weight added above the 21st floor.

Another possibility, he said, is that construction crews may have inadvertently damaged or removed structural components that had been helping support the columns that ultimately buckled.

“It’s hard to diagnose at this point in time, but it’s very likely that there were heavier loads placed on this column than it was anticipated to support,” Guglielmo said. “It’s likely that potentially the incorrect member size is there, whether by design or construction.

“Oftentimes when something as catastrophic as this happens, it’s a combination of a variety of factors,” she continued.

“Sometimes it doesn’t show itself immediately. It’s only when enough of the building has gone up, or enough loads have been added.”

{Matzav.com}