A building in midtown Manhattan was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after steel beams started buckling under the weight of the floor above.

“They obviously didn’t add the right amount of steel, so the north side is crumbling,” Steamfitters union rep Cliff Johnson told local media that there weren’t enough steel beams added to the building before it underwent the renovations said. “The I-beams are bending like cigarettes in there, which is super dangerous.”

Around 8 a.m., fire crews were called to the 37-story building at 235 East 42nd Street near Grand Central Station after bricks began to fall from the building. Construction crews were working to convert the structure from its former Pfizer headquarters into 1,600 apartments. The workers noticed the structural support beams buckling on the 21st and 22nd floors, prompting the evacuation.

“Two structural columns have buckled, in addition to multiple cracks and sagging floors. The building remains unstable,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

There were no injuries reported, and all construction workers were accounted for, Mamdani said.

There were 50 units from the New York City Fire Department and over 150 fire and EMS personnel at the scene at midday. Crowds had gathered at the scene to see crews rushing to keep the building from falling. At one point, the crowd was pushed back from the perimeter set up by New York Police.

After first responders determined the building was unstable they started evacuations of the building and the surrounding areas, “establishing a collapse zone,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said during the press conference.

The NYPD closed East 40th to 45th Street between First and Third avenues to tend to the scene. No pedestrian or vehicle traffic was allowed in that area for fear the building could collapse and debris would spread. No trains at the Grand Central Station were impacted by the closure.

Fire officials said if the building, which has a steel frame, were to collapse, it would be more localized, and not a total collapse.

Several nearby buildings, including a hotel and a school, were also evacuated as a precaution, the New York City Fire Department told The Independent.

The buildings evacuated include 225 East 43rd Street, 221 East 43rd Street, 815 2nd Avenue, 212 East 43rd Street, 211 East 43rd Street, 235 East 42nd Street and 210 East 43rd Street. It was not immediately clear if the incident had any impact on trains at Grand Central Terminal.

Video obtained by Pix 11 showed construction workers looking on as several columns inside the building buckling under pressure. The video showed the cracked floors and bent steel beams inside the construction site.

FDNY drones were used to examine the building. The New York City Department of Buildings was also at the scene investigating reports of structural issues.

“First responders have advised commuters to avoid the area and use alternate routes,” the agency said.

Mamdani noted during the press conference that officials were having a “minute-by-minute” assessment of the situation, but their main focus was keeping New Yorkers safe.

“We have evacuated not only the building, but also seven buildings around it. I really do appreciate the way in which New Yorkers have responded to this situation,” he said. “We've seen that they have followed the instructions that have been provided by first responders on the ground, and that has been immensely helpful to ensuring that those first responders can be focused on the work at hand.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was working with city officials following the incident, and that New York State Department of Homeland Security was on the scene.

“The State stands ready to provide any assistance needed. Please avoid the area as emergency crews continue their work,” she said.