The city’s top violator for keeping scaffolding up indefinitely while delaying repairs? NYCHA. Unlike in other large US cities, the rules ridiculously apply to every building, no matter how much or little risk it presents, how old it is or what materials it’s made from.Īlmost every inspection discovers a few technical violations, which results in a building like the Upper East Side one where I live being surrounded by scaffolding on three sides for more than two years - twice in the last decade. The laws require inspections every five years of all buildings more than six stories tall, and sheds to go up whenever work is done to correct “violations.” Erik Pendzich/Shutterstockīut Adams, like his mayoral predecessors, has neither the guts nor political support to take them on. Mayor Eric Adams has proposed a fix that would tackle abuses by landlords - but the bigger problem is laws that enrich the scaffold leasing industry. In the name of protecting the public from rare instances of dangerous falling debris, the laws mainly protect the profits of scaffold leasing companies, city plan examiners, construction unions, contractors, engineers and consultants who all batten at the trough. They did more to enrich the sleepy scaffold leasing industry than Thanksgiving has done for turkey growers. Local Laws 10 and 11, enacted during the Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani years must go. The problem isn’t incidental abuses by landlords of current laws, which Adams’ fixes would tackle - it’s the laws themselves. New York City is unusual compared to other cities in that scaffolding rules apply to every building, no matter how much or little risk it presents, how old it is or what materials it’s made from. The annual $8 billion scaffold leasing and support industry has little to fear from the puny proposals. Ha! Do you know what $6,000-a-month fines would mean for most of these landlords? A rounding error.Įven if the measures are approved by the City Council - a body so demented that some members want to legalize jaywalking - they’d do no more good than toothless “crackdowns” on subway turnstile-jumping, unlicensed marijuana peddling and padlocks on “plazas” that landlords are supposed to keep open to the public. They call for landlords to renew scaffolding permits every 90 days instead of once a year and levy bigger fines for leaving up “unsafe” sheds for too long. The limp measures would be as effective in getting rid of a meaningful number of sheds as throwing spitballs would be to stop an M1 tank. Yippee - Mayor Eric Adams is launching a big crackdown on the city’s plague of sidewalk-jungle scaffolds, which he prefers to call “sheds.”īut don’t hold your breath waiting to see the blocks-long blights that darken streets from uptown Park Avenue to Wall Street disappear.Īdams calls his proposal “Get Sheds Down.” But let’s get real. 'Deteriorated' scaffolding surrounds City Hall-owned 2 Lafayette St - despite Adams' 'crackdown' Hochul and Adams' stand-up Armory act won't actually help The Bronx Tishman Speyer's Spiral secures 3 new financial-services leases in booming Hudson Yardsįake meat is failing because it's gross and unhealthy NYC coroner's office ringed by scaffolding for nearly 15 years: 'It’s outrageous'
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