A criminal inquiry into the July 2026 structural failure at the former Pfizer headquarters on East 42nd Street remains active, with the Department of Investigation and Buildings Department examining missing or inadequate steel reinforcement plates on multiple columns during the office-to-residential conversion. Engineers have attributed the buckling and sagging floors to omitted reinforcements specified in the plans, prompting a stop-work order, third-party forensic review, and stabilization work, but no charges have been filed as of early September. Such probes typically focus first on safety violations, civil liability, and administrative actions before advancing to criminal negligence or misconduct cases, which require detailed evidence and prosecutorial review. The ongoing parallel law enforcement coordination and recent discovery of additional column deficiencies underscore the complexity, making formal charges by year-end unlikely under standard investigative timelines.