NEW YORK\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Residents and hotel guests were slowly allowed back onto cordoned off Manhattan streets Wednesday after columns buckled and floors sagged at an under-construction apartment building, triggering widespread evacuations and street closures over concerns that it might collapse. <\/p>\n
Crews worked through the night to shore up a massive development at the building that used to house Pfizer\u2019s headquarters. Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed Wednesday that there has been no additional movement in the building since it was deemed stable late Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe building is stable and yet we are going to continue to prioritize the safety of all in that immediate area,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Four nearby buildings remained under evacuation orders, the mayor said. Normally busy midtown streets around the construction site also remained closed.<\/p>\n
Elinor Ruskin, 94, was among those redirected by police Wednesday after trying to get through a closed block. She took it in stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things happen. I don\u2019t know if they will catch the mistake or what they will do,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyway, you know, this is New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the cause of the structural issues remains under investigation, unionized construction workers took the opportunity to slam the developers for using nonunion workers. They staged a protest, complete with a large inflatable rat, near the site Wednesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got enough skilled workers in our union,\u201d said Anthony Williamson, an executive board member with Local 79 Construction and General Building Laborers. \u201cThis would have never happened in New York City if they had done the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antoine Mouthon, who works nearby at the United Nations, recalled seeing the aftermath of a large sheet of metal falling from the building last August. <\/p>\n
\u201cA whole year after I avoided that street,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought they cleaned up their act.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally Grant and Margaret Clark were waiting to be let back into the Hampton Inn. They had traveled from Scotland to see Bon Jovi perform at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, but were evacuated and told to leave their belongings, including their credit cards, passports and medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could have given us five minutes to grab our belongings, you know, instead of just saying everybody out, everybody out,\u201d Clark said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been left with nothing. We slept in the streets last night. The police wouldn\u2019t help us. It\u2019s been awful. Absolutely it\u2019s ruined our holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Work continued, meanwhile, high above in the glass-and-steel tower.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said temporary shoring and beams were installed on floors 18 through 23 of the building, and additional supports will be added throughout the day as crews make their way to the roof and down to the ninth floor.<\/p>\n
Once the emergency repairs are complete, the city\u2019s Department of Buildings will conduct a \u201crigorous assessment\u201d to ensure the plans and the site are fully compliant with all codes before any nonemergency work proceeds, he said.<\/p>\n
Authorities responded to emergency calls at the building early Tuesday to discover two mangled support beams and sagging floors on its 21st floor. The building itself, along with a wide stretch of a bustling area not far from the Grand Central transit hub and the Chrysler Building, was evacuated and area streets closed. <\/p>\n
Fire Chief John Esposito said officials believed the steel-framed building wasn\u2019t necessarily at risk of a total collapse, but that \u201cit would be more of a localized collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n
On-site contractors were eventually allowed to reenter the building to do the emergency repairs after city officials did a floor-by-floor inspection. The building was empty other than the workers.<\/p>\n