Indian UN Mission premises evacuated as nearby high-rise buckles

In USA, the building housing the Permanent Mission of India to the UN was among the several premises evacuated in New York's Midtown Manhattan after structural damage rendered an under-construction high-rise "unstable", raising concerns of its potential collapse. The Indian Mission building, located just over a block away from the United Nations headquarters, houses offices, as well as residences of Indian diplomats and other officers. Sources said all Indian diplomats and their families are safe and following necessary precautions in the wake of the evacuation orders.

Midtown NYC on edge: Major high-rise instability forces mass evacuations at 235 E 42nd St (ex-Pfizer HQ), workers spotted two buckled steel columns on floors 21-22 during apartment conversion work

Floors 21-26 started sagging, bricks fell, and the 37-story building is now "still… pic.twitter.com/vxzFTQdCuK

— Wake Up NJ New Jersey (@wakeupnj) July 7, 2026

The mission in New York is housed in a 27-story red granite building built in 1993. The building was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa and is located between 43rd and 44th Street just off Second Avenue. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the situation as "extremely serious" and added that no injuries have been reported so far from the incident and every worker has been accounted for. Giving a detailed account of the situation, Mamdani said that around 8 am Tuesday morning (local time), the New York Fire Department received reports of a "structural issue" at an "active construction" site between Second and Third Avenues on 42nd Street in Manhattan. First responders from the fire department and the Department of Buildings responded to the call immediately and found "structural issues on the 21st floor," Mamdani said.
The Indian Mission, located just across the street from the troubled high-rise, shares the area with several other UN missions, UN agency officers, prominent hotels and restaurants, residences and businesses. The troubled building, which was previously the headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is a 37-story high-rise with active permits to convert it from a commercial office building to a residential building.