A Skyscraper Almost Collapsed. How Worried Should We Be?

Mr. Bliss, the founder of Latent Urban Ventures, is a veteran of the Adams, de Blasio and Bloomberg administrations in New York, in which he worked on housing, economic development and infrastructure policy.

When something goes wrong with a building in New York, it shakes more than steel and concrete. It also shakes trust.

A month ago, two structural columns buckled on the 21st floor of 235 East 42nd Street in Manhattan, part of the former Pfizer headquarters complex being transformed into what will be the nation’s largest office-to-residential conversion. Rumors circulated that the entire building might be in danger........

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