A Midtown Manhattan office tower undergoing a major conversion into residential apartments experienced structural failure on Tuesday when columns on its 21st floor buckled, prompting a wide-scale evacuation and raising questions about the role of private inspections in construction safety. The building at 235 East 42nd Street, formerly the Pfizer headquarters, is being transformed into a 37-story complex featuring 1,602 apartments, retail spaces, and amenities.

The structural concerns focused attention on Domani Inspection Services, a private firm hired as the project's special inspection agency. Such firms are responsible for monitoring specific construction tasks — including high-strength bolting, steel welding, and structural stability changes — and certifying that work complies with approved plans and safety standards. Domani had signed off on various aspects of the project before the incident, according to records and interviews.

Although no definitive link has been established between Domani’s inspections and the column failure, the company has a history of regulatory issues. Between 2012 and 2017, the New York City Department of Buildings cited Domani three times for violations including unlicensed concrete testing and failure to report a façade collapse; one case resulted in a $1,000 fine. In 2019, Domani was fined $12,500 after a concrete wall fragment fell from an Upper East Side project it was overseeing, damaging a neighboring building. The firm declined to comment on litigation related to that incident.

John McMonagle, identified by city officials as the director of Domani, conducted many of the inspections at the East 42nd Street site. He was fined $12,500 in 2022 for submitting a false statement during another Manhattan inspection; however, Domani stated it had no record of this violation. The same year, he was accused but later cleared in a case involving a structurally unsound landmark building in Lower Manhattan that was subsequently demolished.

The Department of Buildings conducted several enforcement inspections of the Midtown site in 2025, uncovering 22 administrative violations and imposing more than $32,500 in safety penalties, including a stop work order issued in August after a metal panel fell from the 33rd floor. Between March and May of this year, however, officials found no unsafe or illegal conditions during four inspection visits. The department continues to investigate the cause of Tuesday’s buckling.

Developer MetroLoft, responsible for the conversion project, stated it is cooperating with city authorities and maintained that the building was never at risk of collapse. The company described the problem as localized to a small portion of the work.

The incident has sparked scrutiny of New York City’s reliance on special inspection agencies funded by property owners. Critics, including Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, chair of the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings, have questioned whether all involved professionals fulfilled their responsibilities and if the work adhered to approved plans.

Industry experts note that the special inspection system serves to supplement municipal oversight, which faces staffing challenges amid the city’s construction volume. Since 1968, city codes have mandated special inspections for major projects, and the pool of registered inspectors now exceeds 2,000.

Nevertheless, concerns remain about the effectiveness of private inspections. Structural engineer Steve Bongiorno suggested stronger quality control is necessary, while Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, criticized the inherent conflict in having inspections paid for by property owners, saying, “You can’t inspect yourself, and that is essentially what is going on.”

The East 42nd Street conversion project, poised to become the city’s largest office-to-residential overhaul, had encountered multiple challenges from engineering and code compliance perspectives. City officials report the building remains stable and is currently being reinforced with temporary supports following the collapse.

As investigations continue, the incident underscores ongoing debates about construction safety oversight and the pressures faced by New York City’s rapidly evolving real estate landscape.