New Delhi, July 8 -- Workers began making emergency repairs to stabilize a Manhattan high-rise Tuesday evening after buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations in and around the midtown construction site.

The scene unfolded throughout the day after the precarious conditions were spotted in the morning at the 1970s-era building, which is being converted into luxury apartments. Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings - including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels - in the busy corridor of midtown were rushed out after firefighters were called there around 8 a.m.

By early afternoon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the building remained unstable and called it "an extremely serious situation."

Publi...