You’ve seen it with your own eyes in three dimensions all over the city’s too-often-cast-into-shadow sidewalks, but it pays to hop online and look at the city’s official map (http://bit.ly/41pDrvd) showing active sidewalk scaffolding permits in the five boroughs. The City Council needs to pass legislation to help get rid of these blights. There are several bills awaiting consideration to attack the problem. And it is a big problem.
The staggering numbers: Citywide, there are 9,167 active sidewalk sheds — that’s what people in the construction world call them. They’re up for an average of 482 days. 3,779 have been up for more than a year; 1,918 for more than two years; 1,008 for more than three years; 583 for more than four years; and 277 for more than five years. All told, they cover more than 2 million linear feet of our great city — that’s more than 400 miles.
So common are these ugly temporary structures, most of us forget what they’re for — namely, to provide a way for construction, inspection and repair workers to climb on while protecting people who happen to be walking underneath from any debris that might fall in the course of work. But they often reflexively go up when not entirely necessary, and far too often stay up long past when they’re necessary. Thank old laws, vested interests and the worst force in politics, inertia.
The result is demoralizing to those who love their city. It’s expensive, hammering businesses that rely on foot traffic. And it can literally be dangerous: Scaffoldings themselves can collapse, and when a block’s buildings are shrouded in extra layers of wood and metal and netting, it gets dark — and becomes a place where criminals are likelier to thrive.
Enter city leaders, who are finally focused on solving a far-too-long-ignored problem. A year ago, Mayor Adams made a big show of taking down what was the city’s longest-standing sidewalk shed, proof positive that his Buildings Department’s “Get Sheds Down” plan — which aims to expand the use of safety netting, reimagine scaffolding design and expedite the removal of existing sheds, among other things — is paying dividends.
This year, Adams released a study showing that scaffolding costs Manhattan businesses between $3,900 and $9,500 in business every month. Restaurants and bars report a 3.5% to 9.7% decrease in transactions. Given how slim profit margins can be, that’s ruinous.
There’s more to do, as City Councilmen Keith Powers and Erik Bottcher among others keep reminding the city. Smart legislation they are sponsoring would make it easier to get scaffolds to come down expeditiously, revise overly rigid building façade repair mandates more, and increase penalties for sheds that stay up long past when necessary. Even with a mayoral administration that’s on the case, archaic city laws work at cross purposes with good intentions. Reform should include using new technology like drones to conduct inspections in cases where that makes sense.
Over many decades, scaffolding has been a dragon that many administrations have sought and failed to slay. This time, we need results. New York City has some of the greatest buildings in the world, and we’re not just talking about the ones that grace the cover of tourist guidebooks. Built environment has the capacity to inspire natives and visitors alike — or, when wrapped up uglier than Christo’s Reichstag, to drag us all down together.