NEW YORK — Calls grew Thursday for New York City to remove scaffolding covering sidewalks in all five boroughs.
Part of the proposal is that tenants who live in buildings with scaffolding have the right to demand a reduction on the rental rate which should come from the owners of the building. Indeed, it is considered that they use these sheds as a pretext to delay or not to carry out repairs on the facades.
Every New Yorker has seen it, or worse, had to live near it: scaffolding outside buildings that have seemingly always been on sidewalks. It’s been an ongoing problem for decades, but now lawmakers are trying to tear down sidewalk sheds again.
The Bloomberg administration predicted a boom in sidewalk shelters to comply with Local Law 11, which is a safety measure designed to protect pedestrians. The problem is that this law created an unwanted side effect: many landlords kept the sheds on the sidewalks. It is a cheaper option than expensive facade repairs.
By one estimate, there are more than 4,000 in Manhattan alone. It’s not just owners and businesses that have abused the system: sometimes the city was the owner.
“All the hangars in the city projects will be down. Literally all the last,” then-mayor Bill de Blasio said in 2017.
It did not materialize. But now a new generation of leaders is trying again.
“Sheds don’t run this city that we run,” said Councilman Shaun Abrey, who represents Manhattan.
Council members met Monday with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who said his new plan has the right recipe.
“We want to get the facade work done faster because that’s usually what leaves those scaffoldings in place,” Levine said. “It’s a plague in our neighborhoods.”
Levine also said new drone technology could speed up building inspections, which would mean faster permits and jobs. Since 2019, the city has regularly inspected all scaffolding projects that have been in operation for at least five years.
Here’s a breakdown of Levine’s plan to get rid of the sheds, which hinges on:
- Low-interest loan fund for homeowners to make repairs.
- Simplified permits to do construction.
- Higher fines for those who neglect work.
Given past promises that have not been kept, it is natural to ask: why should it work this time?
“We’re making proposals that haven’t been said before,” Levine said.
The Adams administration says it’s already made a dent: Sidewalk sheds are down 21%, totaling just over 9,000 now from 11,300 three years ago, according to the city council.
An East Harlem sidewalk shed that had been in place since 2003 was demolished last year, as were those that were installed in 2008 and 2009. There were at least a dozen sheds demolished in the past 2 years or more that had been in operation for more than seven years. .
Although it may not be noticeable, the city says it has stepped up enforcement. Longer-lasting sidewalk sheds will get extra inspections to make sure someone has a plan to fix it and correct the view.
“As Mayor Adams said in his State of the City address in January, this administration is focused precisely on reclaiming valuable public spaces for New Yorkers, strengthening surveillance of sidewalk sheds long-standing and improved safety requirements. hangar design to keep our city streets busy. We appreciate the Borough President’s recommendations and look forward to considering his specific proposals.” on in a press release from the Ministry of Buildings.
Part of the decline in sidewalk scaffolding may be due to new surveillance initiatives launched in 2019, which aimed to increase facade security and crack down on long-standing sheds.
For those wondering, the oldest curbside shed currently standing in the city is located at 409 Edgecomb Avenuenext to 155th street in Harlem, which once housed Thurgood Marshall there WEB DuBois. The building has had scaffolding in front of it since April 2006, according to a 2019 NY Post report.
A source told NBC New York that the building’s owners recently pleaded guilty in a criminal case, which was filed by the city’s DOB. As part of the plea, they agreed to complete repairs to the building in 2023, so the shed can be removed.