New Delhi, July 9 -- The streets around a midtown Manhattan high-rise where buckled columns forced evacuations gradually returned to life Wednesday, as roads reopened, residents and hotel guests were allowed back into nearby buildings, and workers shored up the damage.

After crews worked through the night to stabilize a section of the building where beams had buckled and floors had sagged, Mayor Zohran Mamdani sought to reassure wary New Yorkers, saying no more movement had been detected in the massive office-to-apartment conversion project at Pfizer's former headquarters near Grand Central Terminal.

But several other nearby buildings remained off-limits, and the city will conduct a broader inquiry into what went wrong and what can be d...