“The scaffolding takes away from the charm of the city,” said Bob Mitchell, 51, of New Jersey, who often visits the Upper West Side. In 1998, the city passed the more restrictive Local Law 11, which requires close-up and hands-on inspections from scaffolds, rather than visual checks with binoculars. Local Law 10 was first passed in 1980 after a college student was fatally struck by a falling brick. It’s still necessary, but we might be overreacting a little bit.” “When a policy comes out, there’s usually very good reason for it but they’re not always implemented in the best way. Other times, landlords delay a project due to financial difficulties but keep up the scaffolding.īeiran said the inspection cycle could easily be increased to 10 or more years, depending on the age and stability of a building. In June, the landlord of the 14-story building was fined $1,000 for loose bricks falling on a neighboring building’s roof, DOB records show.Ĭontractors with façade experience told The Post some owners take short cuts, leaving the shed up without making repairs immediately. in the Financial District filed several complaints about scaffolding in 2012, claiming there hasn’t been a hint of construction for at least two years. “A lot of that comes from Local Law 11.”īuildings Department records show myriad scaffolding complaints over the last year - followed by violations for failing to restore crumbling facades. “There’s an abundance of scaffolds around the city, and oftentimes there’s very little activity,” said architect Ralph Beiran. Some critics say the inspection law is cluttering the city with too many sidewalk skeletons. “All these reports have been filed, and now we have to do the work.” “It’ll be the peak of sidewalk sheds this year,” said Stephen Varone, president of Rand Engineering and Architecture. The last deadline for the current façade-inspection cycle was Feb. There’s even more of the dreaded wood-and-steel tunnels on the way. The scaffolding makes the city look dark and dingy.” “Clients walk right by and don’t even see us because it looks like we’re closed. “It really is a concrete jungle,” said Miriam Taveras, 35, who works at a salon that’s buried under a sidewalk shed at 34th Street and Lexington Avenue. Last year, the city approved permits for 2,668 scaffolds and 5,846 sidewalk sheds, according to DOB - 25 percent more than the 2,356 scaffolds and 4,476 sheds approved in 2009. The rule change means more scaffolds and sheds loom over city sidewalks at any given time.ĬOLUMN: TURNING THE GRANDEUR OF NYC INTO A RAT MAZE In 2010, the Buildings Department began staggering inspection deadlines to ensure 12,000 buildings weren’t filing reports all at once and scrambling for contractors the same day. Under the law, owners of buildings higher than six stories must hire engineers to inspect for cracks, loose bricks and other deficiencies every five years. The number of the ugly overhead structures has steadily climbed each year since 2009 - to 8,514 last year - as the city’s new rules for façade inspections kicked in. Scaffolds and sidewalk sheds seem to be everywhere these days - because they are. AFFRONT: Neighbors fume that the Milford Plaza Hotel has had scaffold permits dating to 1990.
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