NEW YORK (PIX11) – Mayor Mamdani has been in office for 65 days now, and he’s trying to make good on one of his campaign pledges to get rid of all of the sidewalk sheds that create what he calls an “urban jungle gym” on city sidewalks.
“I don’t see anyone working on these buildings,” Marcine Johnson, a resident of Campos Plaza housing, told PIX11 News. ”But the sheds are here,” she added.
From the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side and beyond in all five boroughs, sidewalk sheds and the scaffolding that comes with them are everywhere.
There are close to 8,000 sheds in the city, which translates to 380 miles of them covering 7,500 city blocks.
Speaking at Highbridge Gardens in the Bronx, with a longstanding shed as a backdrop, Mayor Mamdami announced new rules to speed up facade work and remove the sheds more quickly in both NYCHA and private housing.
They include stiffer fines to building owners if sheds are up without repairs being made after six months, and sheds no more than 40 feet from the building instead of half the height
of building and facade Inspections every 12 years instead of five, for newer buildings that appear to comply.
“180 days or six months to get the work done,” Gale Brewer, New York City Councilmember, told PIX11 News. ”Let’s see if it works because most don’t finish in that time,” she added.
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Brewer says these sidewalk sheds are a major quality-of-life issue for New Yorkers.
She helped residents of a building on West 86th Street finally get rid of a shed that had been up for almost 20 years, and now she’s hoping residents across the city will have the same success.
“Let’s hope it comes down and we can get a little sunshine,” Robert Faltos, Campos Plaza resident, told PIX11 News.
The new rules take effect in the fall after a public comment period.
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