Emergency crews clear 38-story tower under conversion near Grand Central after support columns buckle and floors sag; nearby buildings, including the Israeli Consulate and Israel’s UN mission offices, evacuated as precautionA tower under construction in Midtown Manhattan was evacuated Tuesday morning after two support columns buckled, prompting authorities to clear nearby skyscrapers, including the building housing the Israeli Consulate in New York.The mass evacuation was ordered by city authorities after officials warned of a possible collapse. The New York Fire Department said it received a call shortly before 8 a.m. about falling bricks from the 38-story tower at 235 East 42nd Street, in the heart of Manhattan. Emergency crews who arrived at the scene found that two support columns had buckled on the 21st and 22nd floors, and that several floors in the building had sagged or tilted.(Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)Nearby buildings were also evacuated and streets in the area were closed. No injuries were reported.“Our top priority right now is the safety of the residents in the area and the safety of the people who work here,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.The building is located near Grand Central Terminal, the world’s largest train station by number of platforms. It previously served as the corporate headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and is now being converted into a residential building.One of the nearby buildings evacuated on orders from New York police and fire officials was the Israeli Consulate building, which also houses Israel’s mission to the United Nations, the Defense Ministry’s procurement delegation and representatives of Israeli government ministries.Israel’s Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, instructed professional staff at the consulate, Israel’s largest diplomatic mission in the world, to examine alternatives that would allow work and consular services to resume as quickly as possible.“All consulate employees were evacuated safely,” Akunis said. “I have instructed staff to examine alternatives in order to resume routine work as quickly as possible.”Comments