Urban Archive logo
Urban Archive
Story
Scaffolding: It's Everywhere

Using Google Street View if you drop yourself into New York City, there is a very high chance that you will come across scaffolding over sidewalks. Also known as sidewalk sheds, these can be seen all over the five boroughs. Scaffolding has always been there across the entirety of New York City, but we don’t really know why and what is the purpose of scaffolding.

Scaffolding in New York City is 400 miles long, which protects pedestrians from falling bricks and provides shelter when it rains. However, scaffolding destroys city landscapes and leads to other safety concerns, especially when walking at night. Some scaffolding covered the buildings over ten years, which also led to the fact that people never actually get a chance to see the entire design of the building.

A misconception surrounding these sidewalk sheds is that they are up because of all the constant new developments in the city. The truth is far from this. To understand why almost every street in New York City looks like this we have to go back to 1979 when Grace Gold, a freshman at Barnard College in Columbia University was killed by a falling piece of masonry.

The city responded to this by passing Local Law 10 in 1980 which was later amended by Local Law 11 in 1980 which required buildings over six stories tall to have their facades inspected every five years.

If they fail inspection, the building owner is required to repair the facade, and in the meantime install a sidewalk shed to protect people from falling debris. The problem is, the law isn’t working as intended.

Buildings fail inspection all the time and that is primarily because New York is chock full of buildings whose exterior masonry was done decades if not centuries ago. Repairing the facades of these buildings is very expensive. But here is what isn’t expensive, indefinitely leaving a sidewalk shed up.

For most building owners it is cheaper to just leave the shed up, pay the occasional fine, and hope residents don't mind paying $3,000 a month to live in a building they’ve never seen. So that's exactly what they do. That's why a building like 409 Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem has had its sidewalk shed up for over 15 years.

ByShaping the Contemporary City @ Pratt Institute logoShaping the Contemporary City @ Pratt Institute
Start
360 Central Park West icon

360 Central Park West

In 1928, the Scotch Presbyterian Church demolished its building, taking over space in a new 16-story apartment house, 360 Central Park West. Now, the apartment is known for its Neo-Renaissance architectural design and is now covered by scaffolding that is 15 years old. Some comments on the building’s scaffolding include the concern of safety while walking through. As well as not able to look at the building itself without scaffolding. Photo Credit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
1
360 Central Park West icon

360 Central Park West

Exterior of 360 Central Park West in 2022 Image credit: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EozAw2XGmp1hH5uD8?g\_st=ic
2
360 Central Park West icon

360 Central Park West

Exterior of 360 Central Park West in 2009 Image credit: https://maps.app.goo.gl/rihtJajn275KXAFf6?g\_st=ic
3
409 EDGECOMBE AVENUE icon

409 EDGECOMBE AVENUE

Locally known as the Harlem House of Celebrities this is one the most prestigious buildings in the neighborhood. With chandeliers in the lobby, a full-time doorman, and unobstructed views of the Yankee’s stadium surely the building owners are capable of taking down the scaffolding that has plagued the views of this beautiful brick facade for nearly two decades. Image credit: Tejas Setlur
4
The Sun Building icon

The Sun Building

The city department that oversees the issuance of sidewalk shed permits is the Department of Building. The Department of Buildings mandates and enforces rules around the scaffolding and issues fines to those building owners who flout the norms. However, 280 Broadway is the address of the Department of Buildings's Manhattan Borough office. And since 2008 up until very recently they had a scaffolding outside their building. The Department of Buildings has been at the forefront along with NYC Mayor Eric Adams in his plan to get rid of sidewalk sheds all over the city. Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/A.T.\_Stewart\_Dry\_Goods\_Sun\_Building\_280\_Broadway.jpg
5
The Sun Building icon

The Sun Building

Facade of The Sun Building from 1893 Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/%28King1893NYC%29\_pg773\_THE\_WASHINGTON\_TRUST\_COMPANY%2C\_STEWART\_BUILDING%2C\_280\_BROADWAY.jpg
6
2937 Broadway icon

2937 Broadway

Exterior facade of 2937 Broadway, 2023 Image credit: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8073677,-73.9644579,3a,90y,255.8h,114t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sADY\_xL-TEgXpcWk8XIUocg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
7
2937 Broadway icon

2937 Broadway

File photo of Grace Gold, the 17-year-old Columbia University student killed by a falling piece of masonry in 1979.
8
2937 Broadway icon

2937 Broadway

Right next to the south side of Columbia University on Broadway and 115th St is where someone was killed by a falling brick in 1979. Her name was Grace Gold and she was a student at Columbia University. A few years later the city renamed the street after her, Grace Gold Way as a tribute to her. Unfortunately, it took someone's death for the city to put in laws that protect pedestrians. But over the years it's something we don't think about anymore and are just happy it exists when it rains and snows. Is there light at the end of the scaffolding tunnel for New York City? There could be. While there have been many city-approved projects to let local artists paint sidewalk sheds, most building owners will get fined $10,000 if their sheds don’t maintain a very specific artistic vision of Michael Bloomberg whose mayoral administration decided that all standard sidewalk sheds must be painted a very specific green color, Hunter Green. Along with the facts that buildings in NYC are old, and there is a high possibility of more people getting hit by falling bricks. It is still necessary to have a protective structure for pedestrians, but it doesn’t have to be ugly. The structures’ appearance can be different and still maintain their original protective purpose. The first alternative plan could be netting. Instead of covering and darkening the entire sidewalk, installing a net around the exterior window of a specific floor of a building is a more ideal solution. Netting not only can protect pedestrians from falling bricks, but also it protects the builders from accidentally falling. In 2019, the Department of Buildings announced that they would enforce fines and take legal action against building owners who indefinitely leave up sidewalk sheds. However, they have fallen short of this promise and have not kept up with any strong enforcement of fines leading building owners to indefinitely leave up sidewalk sheds. The law that was put in place in 1980, local Law 10 which was later amended by Local Law 11 which requires all buildings over six stories tall to have their facades inspected every five years needs to be re-evaluated. Is there a need for such inspections to take place so frequently or is there an alternative solution? In July of 2023, Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Buildings announced that they would conduct a study to review the frequency of inspections under Local Law 11 and the Facade Inspection and Safety Program, and determine whether New York City can employ less frequency and/or less onerous inspections without jeopardizing safety. Here are some things to think about - What is your opinion on NYC scaffolding? Is it positive or negative? What is your feeling about walking under the scaffolding in NYC? Have you ever felt unsafe while walking under scaffolding? Do you think the alternative plans for scaffolding can make the city different in a good way?
9