The city Department of of Buildings on Thursday finalized new regulations intended to compel property owners to more quickly remove the miles of unsightly scaffolding adorning buildings across the Five Boroughs, while it also proposed new rules expnading the number of designs they can use for the structures.
The new rules, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration proposed earlier this year, are designed to prevent property owners from leaving scaffolding — also known as sidewalk sheds — up for an indefinite period of time without making progress on the building facade repairs for which it was erected. They also intend to cut down on how much far the sheds can extend between clusters of buildings known as “campuses.”
The changes stem from laws approved by the City Council last year.
The Buildings Department’s newly proposed rules, published in the City Record on Thursday, would give building owners six fresh alternative designs to classic green plywood-topped scaffolding structures. The designs aim to give pedestrians passing under the sheds, which often take up space and block out natural light, a more pleasent experience, while still providing overhead protection.
“New Yorkers have gotten used to sidewalk sheds darkening our streets and taking up precious public space, but it doesn’t have to be this way,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“With better designs and stronger enforcement, we are going to keep bringing down the number of sheds, opening up our sidewalks and making them safer, brighter and more welcoming for everyone,” he added.
Mamdani also touted a near 10% drop in the number of sidewalk sheds on city streets as of Monday since he took office in January. Additionally, his office said the 7,427 permitted sheds that were up on Aug. 17 was over 1,000 less than were standing at the same time last year.
One of the newly approved rules requires building owners to file a report with every sidewalk shed renewal request detailing the repairs they erected the shed for and their progress toward completing that work. Furthermore, property owners now must submit scafolding renewal requests every 90-days, whereas previously the city automatically renewed them annually.
The other rule beefs up fines for building owners who leave sidewalk sheds up while there is no active work being done or those who do not finish the repairs in a “timely manner.” Under the new regulation, after 180 days, offenders could face graduated monthly charges that will depend on the scaffolding’s size and how long it has been up.
The city could halt the penalties for those who show they are advancing toward finishing the repairs.
The fines will kick in at the start of next year.
DOB will also issue a bullitan containing guidelines for shrinking scaffolding at multi-building campuses, such as New York City Housing Authority developments. Previously walkways within half the height of a campus building were required to be covered by a shed, but under the new guidance, coverage would be limited to 40 feet from a building at most.
When it comes to the rules establishing the new shed designs, which came from the firms Arup and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the city is holding a public comment period on them running through Sept. 24.
City Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) said in a statment that the rules will “make a real difference” in her Upper West Side district, which she said has the third highest number of scaffolding permits of any neighborhood accross the city.
“Sidewalk sheds are often necessary to keep New Yorkers safe from debris, but we know that getting sheds down and improving those that must remain is also a public safety issue,” Brewer said. “Sheds should not be permanent fixtures that make our sidewalks darker, narrower, and less welcoming.”
