Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams found buckling at construction site: Police
Office buildings tower over midtown Manhattan on October 16, 2025 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Several Midtown Manhattan blocks were evacuated Tuesday morning after construction workers discovered the structure of an office building being converted into residential housing was compromised on the 21st floor, officials said.
New York City Fire Department and Department of Buildings crews went to 235 East 42nd Street, which is one block west of the United Nations headquarters, around 8:11 a.m. after workers “observed structural support beams beginning to buckle,” the NYPD said.
That caused the 21st through 26th floors of the building to start caving under the stress, officials said.
The 37-story commercial building is currently undergoing renovations to convert it into a residential building, according to the DOB. It is one of the largest office-to-apartment conversion projects in city history, officials said.
There were no reported injuries and all construction workers were safely evacuated, according to police.
Other buildings near 235 East 42nd Street were also evacuated, including a nearby Hampton Inn, according to officials.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning that among the evacuated locations was a school with 400 students.
“Our top priority right now is the safety of those who live in this area and those who work in this area. And DOB inspectors and engineers are on site working quickly to secure the site as well as that surrounding area,” he said.
Several nearby streets were closed off as a precaution while building inspectors and FDNY personnel inspected the building.
(ALASKA) — No deaths have been reported after a United States Coast Guard helicopter crashed during a training flight in Alaska, the Coast Guard said Monday.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter carrying four people crashed near Harbor Mountain in Sitka, near Juneau, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District. The incident was reported shortly after 10 a.m. local time.
The four crew members were transported to an area hospital, according to the Coast Guard, which did not release any details on their condition.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, the Coast Guard said.
“The safety, well-being, and rescue of our crew members is our absolute, immediate priority,” the Coast Guard said. “A formal investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances surrounding the event.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A smartphone screen displays a folder containing AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek. . (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Visual investigation: Scores of online resellers are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores
Scores of online companies are increasingly turning to generative AI technology to deceive consumers, falsely portraying themselves as struggling small businesses to charge a premium for lower quality products, an ABC News visual investigation found.
ABC News has identified dozens of similar online retailers — selling everything from clothing to jewelry to lamps — that used AI images and videos to portray themselves as down-on-their-luck craftsmen or small business owners in need of support.
These kinds of sites have proliferated online and take advantage of consumer trends. Experts warn that by the time others leave reviews or complain about the misleading claims, the sites often go offline or move on to selling another product.
“You can use AI to create very realistic media, right? So you can take and create photos of people who look like someone who might be making handmade goods,” said Marshini Chetty, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “You can create reviews at scale. You can create testimonials. And then even when you generate these sites, they already use these kind of manipulative tactics.”
According to Denny Svehla, a musician from Rockford, Illinois, the ad he saw for a retiring craftsman selling flat caps appeared completely normal at first.
“I’ve been making flat caps and newsboy caps by hand since 1973. Closing the workshop next Wednesday and I’ll be honest, I’ve still got way more inventory than I know what to do with — just needs to go,” one slickly produced ad said. “Every cap on that shelf has hours of my work in it — real materials, hand finished, built to outlast the man wearing them. 53 years and not one shortcut.”
For Svehla — a Neil Diamond tribute artist who runs a small business with his wife — the story felt personal, and he wanted to help.
“I get the pressure, so I thought, ‘Man, I am going to buy a cap,'” Svehla told ABC News. “I even gave him a tip.”
According to Svehla, he first became suspicious about the purchase when he got an update showing that the “handmade” hats he bought were being shipped from mainland China. When the hats eventually arrived, he said he was disappointed at their quality and even more annoyed at the deception.
“I’m sitting there thinking I’m trying to help someone,” Svehla said. “He’s going to end up going out of business after 52 years. I’ve been in business for 50 years myself, and I’m looking at, you know, what am I going to do if I can’t go anymore?”
Unbeknownst to Svehla, the website that sold him the hats is one example of a growing trend of sites that use generative AI technology to portray themselves as struggling small businesses. At least three similar sites — George’s Caps, Henry’s Caps, and Walter’s Caps — offered similar pitches to consumers, claiming they are retiring after decades in business and need to offload their inventory.
A representative of George’s Caps, when reached by ABC News, did not address questions regarding whether George is a real person or if claims regarding his retirement are fabricated. They touted the quality of the products they sell, saying, “We are actually well aware that there are some genuinely poor operators in this space. We hear about them directly from our own happy customers who have tried competitors and been disappointed before finding us.” The representative said, “I would also challenge the assumption that foreign made goods are automatically inferior. What matters is the quality standard being maintained and the commitment to the customer.”
Other sites use AI to make emotional appeals. One purportedly New York-based clothing retailer shared an AI-generated image of their damaged storefront — with shattered glass and police tape — to announce their “big sale.”
“Our store has been completely destroyed and after years of love and dedication to our business, we see no other way out. As if we hadn’t fought enough against the big giants with their huge budgets, this has dealt us the final blow,” the ad claimed.
But that store didn’t list an address in New York, and online detection tools suggested the image was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Another site claimed to be a New York-based lamp company that was closing after two decades in business and now offering customers a massive discount on their remaining inventory.
“It’s not easy to close the doors of something that’s been part of your soul. But the time has come. Aluné, our beloved lamp boutique in New York, is packing up for the very last time,” their post said, showing an image of a middle-aged man and woman laying out their lamps on a sidewalk.
But after weeks online, the site has since been removed, and multiple experts said that the site’s advertising was generated with AI. When ABC News visited their address on one of New York’s priciest streets — between retailers for Chanel and Versace — there was no trace of the company or evidence that it ever existed.
None of these businesses responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to Chetty, massive advances in AI technology has made it easier to quickly create convincing sites that can fool even the savviest online shoppers.
“People can do this at scale, create these images, create these websites, put them up quickly, take them down quickly,” she said.
And Chetty noted that those kinds of sites can thrive on social media, where consumers are often distracted and more likely to make a quick purchase. ABC News has identified dozens of videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok where retailers used AI to generate videos showing fake craftspeople making their products. Expert analysis — paired with online detection tools — confirmed they were created with AI technology, and their websites were linked to generic holding companies or companies oversees.
None of the other retailers who were contacted by ABC News responded to a request for comment.
Many of the videos prey on customers’ emotions by showing interactions that try to create sympathy by showing creators being picked on in public.
“This comment says, ‘You’re a 32-year-old man making Mario lamps for kids in your bedroom, let that sink in,'” one video said, mimicking a video format where creators respond to negative comments.
ABC News identified four nearly identical videos, where different middle-aged men — seemingly in the same garage — spoke the same script.
While Chetty said that AI videos like these might have been easier to spot a few years ago, even experts sometimes struggle to identify what’s real from what’s fake.
“Maybe you’re walking down the street in New York, you’re not thinking too deeply and you’re just clicking away. That’s kind of how they get you, right?” she said. “Because they know that they want you to make a quick decision. They know you’re not paying careful attention. And it’s very easy to kind of take advantage of you at that point.”
(NEW YORK) –A soggy weather pattern will continue to plague the eastern half of the nation on Sunday with wet and cool conditions, but some improvement is in store for the Northeast and Midwest leading into Memorial Day.
Flood watches have been issued for the eastern Texas coast and into southern Louisiana and Mississippi, including the cities of Beaumont, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, for heavy rain through Memorial Day.
A widespread one to two inches of additional rain is likely from southern Louisiana up to the Carolinas, with pockets of two to four-plus inches possible with the heaviest downpours.
Some of these storms could also be strong enough to produce gusty winds as well as some small hail.
The rainy weather is causing some flight delays on Sunday at airports, including O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago Sunday morning due to thunderstorms. Arriving flights at O’Hare were experiencing average delays of 44 minutes, according to the FAA. Flights scheduled to depart from O’Hare were experiencing delays of up to one hour and 45 minutes, according to the FAA.
Thunderstorms forecast for central Indiana on Sunday afternoon could interrupt the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. ET, but the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis is forecasting a chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms that could affect the race.
Memorial Day forecast Scattered rain and thunderstorms continue to linger in the South for Memorial Day.
The Northeast will see some rain move through early Monday morning but it will gradually begin to clear out, making way for a drier and mild afternoon and evening. Most of the region warms back up to average temperatures for Memorial Day.
The Midwest may see an isolated shower or two but will mostly be dry, with warm temperatures.
Much of the West remains warm and dry, except for the Pacific Northwest, where some clouds and showers will begin moving in, causing cooler temperatures.
Post-holiday forecast For folks going back to work or school or making their way back home from the holiday weekend, the South will continue to see scattered rain and thunderstorms into the new work week. This may cause some minor travel hiccups for those traveling by plane and some slippery conditions for drivers.
The Northwest will see some clouds and showers move into the region and begin to spread into the intermountain areas of the West later on in the week, but it won’t be a complete soaker.
This will also usher in noticeably cooler temperatures for much of the West for Tuesday into Wednesday, with highs going from the 70s and 80s for most of Monday down into the 60s and barely reaching the 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday.
