{"id":73552,"date":"2025-12-17T17:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/73552\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:57:15","slug":"new-york-city-scaffolding-gets-a-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/73552\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Scaffolding Gets a Makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scaffolding in New York City might soon be up in fewer places, for shorter stints and possibly with a totally different look. The Mayor\u2019s Office and the Dept. of Buildings recently announced two packages of policy changes\u2014one that will make sure the structures go up only when needed and another that will penalize for scaffolding up too long. For the sheds that do make an appearance, the city announced six possible designs<\/a> that could replace the iconic (or notorious) hunter green plywood.<\/p>\n

The changes could remake New York City building care as famous skyscrapers and everyday structures cross major milestones. Half of all buildings in the city were built before 1930, said Jonathan Ehrlich, CEO of T2D2<\/a>, a software company that recently worked on a facade inspection analysis for the Dept. of Buildings. \u201cThe city is doing a good job in realizing that these buildings aren’t being demolished at the rate that they’re being built,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have to figure out how to keep these buildings up for another 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scaffolding across the five boroughs is by and large the \u201cBSA sheds<\/a>,\u201d or the green, tunnel-like designs shielding passersby until construction is finished or crumbling facades are fixed. When the updates aren\u2019t made, the structures linger: The average lifespan<\/a> of the roughly 8,300 sheds across the city is 544 days. Those that have been up three years or longer tend to be on city buildings.<\/p>\n

One program putting scaffolding up in the first place is the Fa\u00e7ade Inspection & Safety Program<\/a>, or FISP. The policy has buildings six floors or taller go through a facade examination every five years. Depending on the results, building owners might have to install a shed. Since implemented 45 years ago as Local Law 10, some FISP rules haven\u2019t changed much, said Gary Mancini, managing principal at\u00a0Thornton Tomasetti<\/a>. DOB selected his firm in 2024 through an RFP to study possible updates to the program. The recommendations, which the city announced in November, could lead to fewer sheds being constructed.<\/p>\n

The most substantial change would have buildings assessed every six years instead of every five. When the standard was set, each study was by sight, Mancini said. \u201cThere were people with binoculars looking at these things and doing 100 of them a day.\u201d More thorough examinations today, however, means check-ins can go longer without compromising safety. Today\u2019s FISP also says that buildings labeled \u201csafe with a repair and maintenance program\u201d automatically get downgraded as \u201cunsafe\u201d\u2014and need scaffolding\u2014if changes aren\u2019t made by the next inspection. Mancini and his team suggested that another inspection determine whether conditions got worse and require the sheds. <\/p>\n

The report also advised the DOB to run a pilot study on how drones could fit into facade inspections. During 30% of the building professionals interviewed said they use the technology as part of their examination process, said Ehrlich, who worked with Thornton Tomasetti on the report. The DOB intends to implement the report suggestions, said David Maggiotto, deputy press secretary for the department, and is drafting rule changes.<\/p>\n

\"newImage courtesy Arup <\/p>\n

A light duty shed that it is quick to deploy and quick to move. Good for short-term projects and emergency repairs. The design features an angled roof with netting, allowing natural light on to the sidewalk.
Image courtesy PAU<\/p>\n

Other new DOB policies will push to have existing sheds taken down faster. Starting in January, the DOB will implement two new fines<\/a>. One monthly fee will be applied to sheds up for longer than 180 days. The second will be \u201cmilestone penalties for owners of FISP buildings who miss specifically enumerated repair deadlines,\u201d according to the department. The agency will also dedicate more staff to inspecting sites where sheds have been up three years or longer.<\/p>\n

DOB also hopes to make whatever scaffolding that goes into place much more palatable to residents. Though the RFP sought a single firm to develop six new scaffolding designs, two teams\u2014one led by Arup and another led by PAU\u2014each received a $1.75 million contract for three models each. \u201cWe determined that both Arup and PAU were deserving so we split the contract into two,\u201d said Maggiotto.<\/p>\n

DOB design requirements, like withstanding specific live and lateral loads, came with additional requests. The department didn\u2019t want horizontal bars lower than eight feet above the sidewalk, for example, something all six designs managed. \u201cThe current sheds have a lot of columns and a lot of crossbracing. It forces you into this corral\u2014you can\u2019t escape it.\u201d said Mark Faulkner, an associate principal at PAU. His team\u2019s designs include a lighter, quicker-build model\u2014one that could go up in a day, Faulkner said\u2014a heavier-duty design for larger projects, and a version that splits the difference. <\/p>\n

The DOB also wanted sheds that were easily mass-produced. As a result, the Arup-led team designed their options to be modular structural steel with standard connections and bolting, said Seth Wolfe, a principal at Arup. Two designs have parallel rows of columns and can be put up for construction or maintenance work, while the third, lightest model doesn\u2019t touch the ground and bolts into the building. <\/p>\n

Both firms are assembling prototypes of their scaffolding and putting together cost estimates. The designs will be more expensive per foot compared to the plywood approach today, but are made with reusable components. With NYCHA and public schools being some of the largest shed consumers, both firms know designs won\u2019t become widespread unless the city can afford them. \u201cWe really try to achieve a high level of design for the Toyota Camry budget,\u201d said Kevin Erickson, founding principal of KNE studio, which teamed up with Arup on the project. <\/p>\n

The six designs could be on buildings as early as 2026. What happens with the green B.S.A. sheds\u2014if they are phased out or left as a legal option\u2014is up to the incoming Mamdani administration. <\/p>\n

If and when the airy, unobtrusive designs are installed, old plywood models lingering years later would be extra obvious, said Wendy Ju, an associate professor of information science and design tech at Cornell Tech whose study of city dashcam data<\/a>\u00a0estimated that about 10% of sheds are unpermitted. But the newer aesthetics might also make scaffolding more palatable, Ju said. \u201cSome of those designs look like they\u2019re meant to look nice for longer periods of time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scaffolding in New York City might soon be up in fewer places, for shorter stints and possibly with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25917,9,24,13792,55,54,56,37228,37229],"class_list":{"0":"post-73552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-arup","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-city-department-of-buildings","12":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-city-news","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-thornton-tomasetti","16":"tag-tower-crane"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}