City officials are saying that they have stabilized the 37-story midtown highrise that formerly housed the Pfizer office tower that was in the midst of being converted into a luxury apartment building. Earlier in the week, the building had to be evacuated because the FDNY and the Department of Buildings determined it was at risk of collapsing after workmen discovered steel structural supports on the 21st floor had been bent in half under the weight of the upper floors.
The evacuation extended to other buildings including a hotel in the area that includes Grand Central Station.
The ambitious office space to residential conversion project, the largest of its kind in the nation, is a so-called "open shop" where non-union and union workers function side by side. On Frontline Voices Frenchie Davis spoke with Sean Dow, a shop steward with Steamfitters Local 638, who discovered the bent columns and reported them to his foreman that sparked the evacuation.
Union advocates say the proliferation of non-union construction, particularly in the residential sector, puts both workers and the public at risk because non-union, often undocumented workers are afraid of speaking up about conditions that can exist, like at the former Pfizer building. According to the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), of the 31 OSHA construction fatality investigations in New York State that took place in 2024, an overwhelming 81 percent of the fatalities were non-union.
This morning Bob Hennelly spoke with Amir Khafagy, a labor reporter with Documented NY about his latest investigative piece chronicling how Laborers Local 79 had been warning about the dangerous safety record of one of the key subcontractors on the Pfizer project.
THE WORLD TURNS
Meanwhile, this morning, the Guardian is now reporting that the man shot and killed by ICE agents in Houston this week was not the intended target of the immigration arrest that has ignited yet another firestorm over the agency's propensity for using lethal force. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had been in the United States for 35 years, was the father of three American citizens, and was on his way to work when he was stopped.
Araujo's death is the 10th fatal shooting by federal immigration agents during President Trump's second term.
DEBT SERVICE TRUMPS EDUCATION
In yet another sign of a deepening global economic crisis, the United Nations is reporting that in 113 countries, that's most of the world's nations, developing countries are spending more on paying of their foreign debt than on educating their children, while overall global aid to education is predicted to decline by close to a third. 18 of the most indebted nations are spending five times the amount they did on education on just servicing their debt. Experts say the debt crisis has been made worse by the lingering economic impacts from the COVID pandemic, as well as energy price spikes, armed conflicts and climate disasters that disrupt agriculture.
MORE ACTING OUT
Back here in the United States, President Trump has fired the entirety of the federal government's Election Assistance Commission, according to the Guardian. The commission was established when Congress passed the Help America Vote in the aftermath of the controversial 2000 Presidential election between George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore.
President Trump has been fixated on federalizing the 2026 mid-term election and on using the U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies to validate his widely discredited claims that the 2020 election in which Joe Biden prevailed was stolen.
WILL 9/11 WTC FILES SEE DAYLIGHT?
This morning we also had an update on the legal battle over the public release of the Giuliani era 9/11 WTC documents generated after the US EPA made the false claim that the air in lower Manhattan was safe to breathe in the aftermath of the attack.
9/11 WTC lawyers Matt McCauley and Andrew Carboy discuss Mayor Mamdani's $34 million plan to have the Department of Investigation sift through the vast trove of previously unreleased and publicly post them on a public online portal.
We also heard from 9/11 WTC advocate John Feal about the status of the 9/11 WTC Health Program in the aftermath of Trump administration's cut backs to the vital program that's helped tens of thousands of civilians survivors and first responders.
IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design, shared an eye opening report on just how exposed so much of New Jersey is to extreme heat and flooding in the era of an intensifying climate crisis.
"As New Jersey communities face a heat wave and widespread flooding, new research finds 35 municipalities are projected to have 100 percent of their public assets located in flood risk areas by 2050, while 155 municipalities will have at least half of their public assets at risk," according to Rebuild by Design."The new report, by Rebuild by Design identifies current and future flood risk to municipal public infrastructure assets – such as schools, libraries, parks, airports, and wastewater treatment plants – and demonstrates the cascading economic impacts to local government and taxpayers who will be on the hook to pay for repairs and rebuilding."
Rebuild by Design is based at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University and works with communities and local governments to solve environmental and economic challenges.
"In the past week, 29 residents lost their lives to the extreme heat wave. At the same time, recent heavy rainfall has added to a growing list of devastating flood events that have inundated roads, neighborhoods, and critical infrastructure, including a July 2025 event that claimed the lives of two people in Plainfield after their car was swept away," Rebuild by Design reports. "These tragedies emphasize the need to invest in infrastructure that protects both people and the public assets they rely on."
“When extreme weather hits, the bill comes in the form of higher tax dollars, insurance hikes, healthcare, repairs, business losses, and relocation. In the worst cases – it comes in the form of loss of life,” said Chester. “New Jerseyans will be the ones paying these costs if the State does not take proactive measures to invest in risk mitigation and long-term adaptation.”
Key Findings:
- Today, of the 564 municipalities in New Jersey, 486 (86%) New Jersey have public assets located in flood risk areas, rising to 525 (93%) by 2050.
- Thirty-five New Jersey municipalities will have 100% of their public assets in flood zones by 2050.
- At least 155 municipalities will have at least half their assets at risk by 2050.
- Across New Jersey's five largest cities (Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Lakewood, and Elizabeth, with a combined population of over 1 million), the share of public assets in flood zones nearly doubles by 2050, from 23% (509 assets) today to 42% (945).
- Flooding threatens $435.9 billion in property value and $5.9 billion in annual property tax revenue statewide.
- Nearly 1 in 4 public assets across the state sits in current flood zones; by 2050, more than 1 in 3 will, a 55% increase.
AN INJURY TO ONE-AN INJURY TO ALL!
In our second hour of What's Going On we visited with 1199 SEIU Executive VP Andy Cassagnol about a rally later today in support of the tens of thousands of essential healthcare workers who are here in the United States on Temporary Protective Immigration status. Last month the US Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration and its plans to force over 300,000 Haitian and Syrian TPS holders out of the country.
