The City Council approved a legislative package Wednesday afternoon to reduce the number of scaffolding structures on New York City streets.
The package of five bills takes aim at the temporary steel and wooden scaffolding structures – known as scaffolding sheds – that line and darken thousands of sidewalks throughout the five boroughs of New York City while keeping members of the public safe from falling debris.
Sidewalk sheds typically adorn the side of city buildings for more than a year, obscuring famous structures and creating significant lighting issues on countless city streets and sidewalks. In July 2023, for example, QNS reported that scaffolding structures were consistent features at prominent courthouses throughout Queens for almost five years, including the Queens County Criminal Court at 125-01 Queens Blvd. and the Supreme Court of Queens County at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica.
Crain’s New York reported that the city’s estimated 8,500 sidewalk sheds boast an average lifespan of 500 days, with advocates for the legislative package stating that the structures obscure buildings from the public and make sidewalks poorly-lit for pedestrians.
Mayor Eric Adams, who allied with the City Council for the “Get Sheds Down” initiative in July 2023, celebrated passage of the five bills Wednesday afternoon, stating that the days of allowing scaffolding to “languish” on New York City streets are at an end.
“These revitalized rules will help the New York City Department of Buildings remove unsightly scaffolding and ensure that sidewalks sheds are safer, more secure, and more visually appealing when they go up for a limited amount of time,” Adams said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Above all, they will allow us to reclaim valuable space for the public and let the light back onto our sidewalks.”
The five bills aim to address several long-standing complaints over sidewalk sheds, including the length of time that sheds can be erected for and the aesthetic appearance of the sheds.
The package also attempts to reverse several requirements introduced by the decades-old Local Law 11, which requires landlords to inspect their building facades every five years and erect sidewalk sheds during each inspection.
Intro 393A, for example, will reduce the permit length for new sidewalk sheds connected to facade inspection from one year to three months.
The bill, introduced by Manhattan Council Member Keith Powers, has also introduced new penalties for building owners who do not conduct repairs in a timely manner, starting at $10 per linear foot per month and rising to a maximum of $6,000 per month.
Landlords can, however, renew their three-month permits if they can prove financial hardship, struggles accessing a neighboring property or other issues impacting necessary repairs at a building.
Powers introduced two other bills in the legislative package, including Intro 394A, which pushes back facade inspections for new buildings from five years to eight years. The bill also eliminates the city’s existing five-year Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP) cycle and requires the Department of Buildings to establish a longer interval time between inspections. The DOB will make an official determination on the new length of cycles during the summer, with the updated window set between six and 12 years.
Intro 391A – the third and final bill introduced by Powers as part of the legislative package – requires the DOB to recommend new sidewalk shed designs to the City Council by September 2025 in a bid to improve the appearance of the sheds across the city.
The bill also requires the DOB to promote the use of containment netting as an alternative to sidewalk sheds and additionally expands the allowable color palette of sidewalk sheds beyond hunter green, to include metallic gray, white or a color matching the façade, trim, cornice or roof of the building.
Architecture firms PAU and Arup US are already designing potential alternatives to the current sidewalk sheds in use across the city, with the firms’ reports due this summer. Under the new legislation, the DOB is required to share the results of that study with the City Council.
Erik Bottcher, who introduced the final two bills of the legislative package, has also attempted to clamp down on sheds that remain erected for several years through Intro 661A, which introduces penalties of between $5,000 and $20,000 for facade repairs that are not completed on time.
Landlords who have identified unsafe conditions during inspections of building facades will have five months to submit construction documents to the DOB; eight months to submit necessary permit applications; and two years to fully conduct facade repairs or they will be liable for penalties under the terms of the newly-passed legislation.
Bottcher’s Intro 660A, the fifth and final bill included in the legislative package, will double the lighting required in public walkways under sidewalk sheds in a bid to improve safety for members of the public.
Council Member Sandra Ung, who sponsored four of the five bills approved by the City Council, said the package addressed a much-needed issue in communities across New York City, stating that sidewalk sheds negatively impact local businesses and create safety issues for local residents.
“For far too long, scaffolding has been allowed to linger in our communities, creating safety hazards, hurting small businesses, and diminishing our streetscapes,” Ung said in a statement.
Ung, who represents Council District 20 including parts of Flushing, said sidewalk sheds in her district are “not just an eyesore” but represent a genuine threat to public safety.
“This package of bills will ensure that scaffolding comes down faster, is better designed while in place, and is no longer used as a way for property owners to delay necessary repairs,” Ung said in a statement.
The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), who pushed the council to adopt softer legislation to provide landlords with means to escape fines for problems they could not control, commended both the Adams Administration and the City Council for listening to concerns of the real estate industry.
Daniel Avery, director of policy at REBNY, said in a statement that there are still issues to “work out” in the rulemaking process but added that REBNY is confident that all bills will be fair and effective.
“We commend the bills’ sponsors, City Council and Administration for considering the concerns from our industry on this topic and advancing legislation that will spur more user-friendly and creative sidewalk sheds,” Avery said in a statement. “There are still issues to work out in the rulemaking process, but we are confident all stakeholders can work together to make these bills fair and effective.”
