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Metro

Mayor Eric Adams cracking down on 400 miles of NYC scaffolding, sheds: ‘Ugly green boxes’

By
Bernadette Hogan
Published July 24, 2023
Updated July 24, 2023, 5:09 p.m. ET

What an eyesore! Mayor Eric Adams announced that he’s cracking down on the city’s all-too-familiar, unsightly 400 miles of scaffolding and shabby sheds throughout New York City.

Promising steeper fines and stricter enforcement, Hizzoner slammed the “ugly green boxes” loathed by New Yorkers as prime offenders for blocking sunlight, deterring customers from businesses, and even serving as a “magnet” for illegal activity.

“While sidewalk sheds were created to protect New Yorkers, they now have become unsafe constructions. It is … a safe haven for criminal behavior,” Adams said in Chelsea on Monday.

The Department of Buildings requires the structures to cover city sidewalks to protect pedestrians from falling debris or other safety hazards during construction work.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams holds press conference in City Hall, Blue Room. Describing the lack of space available for asylum seekers.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams seeks to curb scaffolding with strict enforcement and steeper fines. Robert Miller

But some have been standing for decades, even if no work is being done on the buildings, thanks to lax enforcement and little to no penalties leveled against building owners. 

“Most sheds stay up for longer than a year, and some have darkened our streets for more than a decade. We have normalized the sheds all over our city and that is unacceptable,” groused the mayor.

City records show around 9,000 active construction sheds permitted by the Department of Buildings that have been standing for over a year, with an average of 500 days, and more than 1,000 have been up for more than three years.

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 19: Workers erect scaffolding over a sidewalk April 19, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
NYC has over 400 miles of scaffolding, a familiar sight that has become an eyesore. Getty Images
Pedestrians walk under the colossal scaffolding spanning 2 city blocks and 4 buildings at Park Ave. and East 62nd St.
Pedestrians walk under the colossal scaffolding spanning two city blocks and four buildings at Park Avenue and East 62nd Street. Helayne Seidman

Meanwhile there’s 261 buildings across the five boroughs with active permits issued five or more years ago – with an average age of over six and a half years old. 

Manhattan is home to the largest number of these licenses – with 133 permitted sheds.

Among those include 138 Allen Street, which city records show the permit to perform “construction or maintenance” held by Rockledge Scaffold Corp has been active for 13 years – since November 2010.

41 Maiden Lane’s permit holder CS Bridge Corp has been renewing the location’s license since April 2012. 

Brooklyn holds a second place with 62 active permits aged five years older, followed by 37 in The Bronx, 26 in Queens and just two in Staten Island.

City Hall needs the City Council to pass legislation that would greenlight the improvements proposed:

  • Increased DOB inspections on buildings for safety repairs
  • A new requirement for property owners to apply for a work permit every 90 days instead of every 12 months
  • Issue fines up to $10,000 monthly to landlords with unsafe sheds in central business districts such as Midtown Manhattan, Long Island City in Queens, downtown Brooklyn, and the Bronx’s Grand Concourse 

Adams said small businesses will be eligible to apply for funding from a $75 million fund if they can’t afford to make necessary upgrades and repair work.

“We must show the visual beauty of this city, and it should not be in the skeleton body of these sheds,” the mayor said.