Eric Adams got his wish to remove Harlem’s oldest scaffolding, which the mayor said sacrificed public space and the beauty of a historic landmark “because the property managers didn’t do their job.”
Eric Adams, presided over an event in which the oldest scaffolding in the city, which for 21 years stood in front of a historic building, was torn down in the Harlem community.
In a city like New York, where construction is always underway, scaffolding is common to protect pedestrians from debris.
According to City Hall data, by 2022 there were approximately 9,000 scaffolds averaging nearly 500 days old, taking up nearly 400 miles, about 3% of the city’s sidewalk space.
That prompted Adams to unveil a plan last July to remove unneeded scaffolding, and more than 500 of these structures have already been removed.
“For 21 years, Harlem residents sacrificed public space and the beauty of a historic landmark because property managers didn’t do their job” of repairing the building, said Adams, who was accompanied by Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo.
The scaffolding in front of 409 Edgecombe Avenue in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, a 1991 landmark that was home to writers, musicians, intellectuals and activists, was removed after the city filed a court case against the building’s managers for their repeated failure to repair the structure.
This apartment building became famous in the 1930s and 1940s because it was home to important African-American figures such as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, writer and publisher William Stanley Braithwaite, painter Aaron Douglas, an influential Harlem Renaissance artist, or sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett.
“Today, we return 409 Edgecombe Avenue to the hands of the Sugar Hill community and remain focused on continuing to safely remove ugly sidewalk scaffolding throughout the five boroughs,” Adams further noted.
While Commissioner Oddo noted that a scaffold installed as part of new construction “is a sign of economic activity.”
“A scaffold erected as part of necessary maintenance is an indication of compliance and responsible ownership,” but – he added – when it is maintained for years while necessary building repairs are delayed, “it is selfish and unacceptable, and we will continue to do everything we can to address these situations.”