Plan to Remove Unsightly Sheds, Scaffolding From NYC Sidewalks

“Get Sheds Down.” Credit: New York City Mayor’s Office

Overhaul of Construction Shed Rules Will Get Them off Sidewalks More Quickly, While Redesigning and Reimagining Them to Improve Public Safety and Quality of Life

Adams Administration Will Partner With Borough President Levine to Increase Penalties as Construction Sheds Occupy Public Space for Too Long

Adams Administration to Lead by Example and Pilot Netting to Replace Blighted Sheds at Queens Courthouse

Plan Delivers on “New” New York Panel Recommendation as Key Part of Midtown and Business District Recovery While Enhancing Public Space in Residential Areas

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Jimmy Oddo today unveiled “Get Sheds Down,” a sweeping overhaul of rules governing sidewalk construction sheds and scaffolding that will remove these eyesores from city streets more quickly while redesigning and reimagining those that are needed. These sheds, sometimes called scaffolding, can be a blight on public spaces and foster illegal activity. The “Get Sheds Down” plan will improve public safety and quality of life by removing them more quickly and replacing them, where possible, with more aesthetic or less intrusive alternatives, like safety netting, that keeps New Yorkers safe without creating blight in public space.

For decades, the rules governing construction sheds have incentivized property owners to leave them up for long periods of time instead of completing critical façade work that is often the reason the shed is up in the first place. As a result, New Yorkers are stuck with approximately 9,000 active, permitted construction sheds with an average age of nearly 500 days and spanning more than 2 million linear feet, or nearly 400 miles, about 3 percent of the city’s sidewalk space. Mayor Adams’ “Get Sheds Down” plan will change that paradigm — incentivizing property owners to expedite façade repairs and remove sheds with expired permits from public sidewalks. At the same time, recognizing the important safety function sheds can play when a building has an unsafe façade, “Get Sheds Down” will make traditional sheds more visually appealing when they are necessary and, where possible, replace them with effective but less intrusive alternatives.

“We have nearly 400 miles of scaffolding in New York City, taking up public space that belongs to New Yorkers and the millions who visit our city every year. Imagine visiting Rome, Tokyo, or Rio and seeing scaffolding everywhere. New Yorkers wouldn’t be happy with these unsightly constructions in other cities, and we shouldn’t be ok with them here at home. For too long, bureaucratic rules have stood in the way of progress, but today, we are turning the page and overhauling these rules from the ground up with our ‘Get Sheds Down’ plan,” said Mayor Adams. “This plan will flip the script so that property owners are incentivized to complete safety work and remove sheds instead of leaving up these eyesores year after year. This is how we reimagine our city, revitalize our business districts, and build a safer, more welcoming city for all.”

“Get Sheds Down” includes nine concrete strategies to improve public space and public safety, while protecting New Yorkers from the hazards associated with active construction and from buildings that have been allowed to fall into disrepair by their owners.

As part of the plan’s focus on replacing sheds with more appealing and equally safe alternatives, the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) will pilot the use of safety netting in place of a traditional shed for the ongoing façade work in front of Queens County Supreme Court at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY. The shed at this site was first permitted by DOB more than six years ago on April 21, 2017 — meaning it has been in place for nearly 2,500 days. Moving forward, in line with a new DOB bulletin, all city agencies will be required to explore safety netting for any construction project on a building owned by that agency or where they serve as project sponsor or construction manager.

In line with the “New” New York panel’s focus on central business districts, the Adams administration will target the initial expansion of financial penalties and regulatory oversight associated with sheds to one business district in each of the following boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. This strategic approach will spare smaller property owners from additional financial burdens, while realigning the financial incentives of façade work for property owners with more resources — and it will reactivate sidewalks and public space to help drive these neighborhoods and the city’s economic recovery, as outlined in “Making New York Work for Everyone.”

A plurality of sidewalk sheds across New York City are erected in connection with DOB’s Façade Inspection and Safety Program, the city’s program for compliance with Local Law 11 of 1998. Under Local Law 11, owners of properties higher than six stories — of which there are approximately 16,000 across the city — must have exterior walls inspected every five years and file a corresponding technical façade report with DOB. Buildings are then classified as “safe,” “safe with a repair and maintenance program,” or “unsafe.” If a building has a problem or defect that threatens public safety and is designated unsafe, the owner must immediately install pedestrian protection, such as a sidewalk shed. Pedestrian protection measures like sheds are required to remain in place by law wherever an unsafe condition is present that poses a life safety threat to the public. However, when construction projects stall and property owners fail to make needed building repairs in a timely manner, sidewalk sheds can languish in place year after year.

Under “Get Sheds Down,” the Adams administration will deliver both a new look for pedestrian protection and realign the incentives of construction work to remove sheds from New York City streets more quickly:

Protecting Pedestrians Without Blight

Expanding the Use of Safety Netting – DOB will post an official agency Buildings Bulletin with specific rules governing the use of safety containment netting as an approved form of pedestrian protection that can, in certain circumstances, be used in place of a traditional sidewalk shed. Façade safety netting is currently allowed in the city but rarely used, in part because of the absence of a standardized design that can be easily replicated. The bulletin will be posted in 2023 and provide clarity to design professionals and building owners around how netting can comply with standard DOB specifications and provide adequate public protection. DOB will proactively engage design professionals and contractors across the industry to encourage broader adoption of netting.

The Adams administration will lead by example. First, DCAS will pilot the use of netting to partially replace a preexisting shed in front of Queens County Supreme Court at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY. Once the bulletin is posted, any city agency that owns a building or is sponsoring a construction project requiring pedestrian protection will be required to assess whether netting can be used. Only if netting is ruled out as a viable option will the agency be able to proceed with the implementation of a traditional shed.

Reimagining Sidewalk Sheds – DOB will issue a public request for proposals by the end of summer 2023 to solicit new design ideas from architecture and engineering experts to bring the ubiquitous pipe-and-plywood shed design into the 21st century. The agency will select new, alternative shed, netting, and carbon fiber wrap designs that are less obtrusive, more visually appealing, and still affordable for property owners to improve the pedestrian experience, while simultaneously offering critical overhead protection from any potential hazards.

Designs selected through the request for proposals process will be incorporated into the city’s Construction Codes — providing building owners and design professionals a range of more attractive pedestrian protection measures to choose from and replacing the plywood and pipe sheds currently seen across the city. DOB will aim to select, review, and implement these new designs by the end of 2024.

Redesigning Existing Sidewalk Sheds – As the request for proposals process plays out to redesign the sidewalk shed, the Adams administration will partner with other city leaders to make immediate, interim changes to the existing plywood and pipe sidewalk shed design. Aesthetic enhancements will require increased lighting under existing sheds, allow art to be installed on shed panels, and unlock more color choices for sheds beyond the hunter green color currently mandated under the city’s Construction Code.

Removing Unsightly Sheds More Quickly

Paying New Yorkers for Occupying Public Space – The Adams administration will partner with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine to push legislation implementing new monthly financial penalties to building owners for most sidewalk sheds located in the public right of way that are not directly related to new construction or demolition projects. These recurring penalties would start 90 days after a shed is first permitted and issued monthly to the property until the shed is removed.

Under the current rules, many building owners can indefinitely delay needed building repairs and keep construction sheds on city sidewalks for years without incurring even $1 in financial penalties from the city. Today, smaller buildings not subject to Local Law 11 can simply renew their shed permits every year and keep the structure in place forever. Similarly, taller buildings subject to Local Law 11 can file for repeated extensions, allowing them to draw out the length of façade repairs and still avoid penalties.

This new proposed enforcement strategy targeting sheds occupying public space will plug the holes in the city’s existing enforcement rules by automatically imposing up to thousands of dollars per month in penalties for use of New Yorkers’ space. Under this proposal, the specific penalties will be assessed to the length of a shed at a given point in time, accounting for phased compliance and allowing for reduced monthly penalties as repair work progresses and sheds are removed piece by piece. Penalties would be capped at $6,000 per month, and to encourage property owners to complete repair work and expedite shed removals, penalties would be waived if property owners take the action necessary to remove the shed within an allotted time. One- and two-family homes, and buildings employing safety netting instead of traditional sheds, would be exempt from these new penalties.

Doubling Down on Central Business Districts – The Adams administration will work to impose additional financial penalties on building owners located in select business districts when they fail to meet key milestones on required façade repairs related to the Façade Inspection and Safety Program or Local Law 11. Under this proposal, property owners could be assessed a $10,000 penalty when a shed is in place due to an unsafe façade and the property owner fails to meet any of the following deadlines during the repair process: filing a repair application within three months, obtaining required work permits within six months, and fully completing repairs within 24 months. These three milestones would supplement existing monthly penalties issued by DOB when owners fail to make progress on façade repairs required under the Façade Inspection and Safety Program.

The program will begin in Midtown Manhattan; Long Island City, Queens; Downtown Brooklyn; and Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

Strengthening Oversight of Shed Permits – The Adams administration and the City Council will implement new fees for each renewal of a sidewalk shed permit and increase penalties for sidewalk sheds that remain in place when the relevant permit has expired. DOB will also move to reduce the duration of a shed permit from 12 months to 90 days, requiring property owners to renew permits four times per year to keep their sheds properly permitted. Additionally, DOB will no longer grant penalty waivers for expired shed permit violations, further encouraging property owners to keep shed permits up to date with the more frequent renewal schedule.

These more regular interactions with DOB require virtually no agency staff time while creating another financial incentive for property owners to complete façade repair work and allowing the agency to better track the progress of repair jobs across the city.

Targeting Longstanding Sidewalk Sheds – To address the scourge of sidewalk sheds languishing on city streets year after year, DOB will expand its Long Standing Shed program, which targets property owners with sheds that have been up for longer than five years and deploys additional oversight tools to compel them to complete overdue façade repair work. Properties in the Long Standing Shed program receive additional DOB scrutiny, which can range from regular site visits from enforcement inspectors to potential criminal court actions or affirmative litigation if they continue to disregard orders to make repairs to their buildings. DOB will expand the program to include properties with sheds that have been in place longer than three years — adding over 500 sheds to the universe and more than doubling the number of properties that will see earlier, targeted enforcement actions with the goal of reducing the amount of time these structures remain in place.

Properties in the Longstanding Shed program are also eligible for penalty waivers if work is completed and a shed is removed within an allotted timeframe.

Empowering Struggling Property Owners – The Adams administration will partner with Borough President Levine to explore the creation of a low-interest loan program to provide financial support for struggling, small property owners who lack the financial resources to complete necessary façade repair work. The program would be modeled after Mayor Adams’ Small Business Opportunity Fund, a $75 million fund administered by the New York City Department of Small Business Services that offers loans to eligible small businesses, with a focus on minority- and women-owned businesses and businesses in low- to moderate-income communities.

Reevaluating Local Law 11 Inspections – DOB will conduct a study to review the frequency of inspections under Local Law 11 and the Façade Inspection and Safety Program, and determine whether New York City can employ less frequent and/or less onerous inspections without jeopardizing pedestrian safety.