(CNN) — The New York City Department of Investigation has opened an inquiry after a Manhattan high-rise’s columns buckled earlier this week, forcing workers to flee and officials to evacuate neighboring buildings and close down roads, a spokesperson for the department told CNN.The developer behind the skyscraper – the former Pfizer headquarters being converted into apartments – previously told CNN that faulty column supports carrying too much weight were to blame, and the building has since been stabilized.The company was adding 18,000 square feet to 15 upper floors of the building, and the additional load caused two columns to bend, sagging the floors – some as much as 4 inches, Nathan Berman, founder and managing principal of MetroLoft, told CNN.While the developer said no part of the building, located on East 42nd Street, was ever at risk of collapsing, city officials on Tuesday described the building as unstable and established a formal “collapse zone” around it.CNN has reached out to MetroLoft for comment on the inquiry into the incident.The columns bent “essentially from not having been properly reinforced or having been missed in the reinforcement process,” Berman said, noting they will determine the exact reason “in due time.”The buckled columns sit between the existing structure of the building and the new floors being constructed, city officials have said.A “full investigation” into the structural failure at the former Pfizer building will help determine how the failure happened, what led to it and how similar incidents can be avoided in the future, the New York City Department of Buildings previously said.The probe will include reviews of construction documents, interviews with witnesses and a review of any available video and photo evidence from the site, among other things.The department also noted earlier this week that it has required the building’s owner to hire a third-party engineer to conduct a forensic evaluation — a formal investigation to determine the cause of the structural failure.The New York City Department of Investigation is the city’s independent watchdog agency, which investigates fraud, corruption, misconduct, municipal malfeasance, city employees, contractors, and individuals who do business with the city.When investigations uncover evidence of criminal activity, DOI routinely works with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to pursue criminal charges in addition to administrative or civil actions.CNN has reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.The investigation is likely to be complex. Large-scale construction projects in the city often involve multiple developers, general contractors, subcontractors, hundreds of workers and multiple entities with separate responsibilities — setting up a wide net for investigators to comb through as they collect evidence.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
