In this contentious time, let us all come together in our hatred of sidewalk sheds.
The general consensus, for years, has been that sidewalk sheds are ugly, stick around for too long and, in the worst cases, can themselves be unsafe.
The City Council on Wednesday is expected to vote on a package of bills aimed at reducing the miles of sidewalk sheds (and the scaffolding above them) that crowd NYC streets. Last year, the Council held a hearing on more than a dozen shed-related bills. The package being voted on this week includes five measures.
Here is a rundown of the bills coming up for a vote:
— One of the measures decreases the length of a shed permit issued for façade repairs, from one year to three months. It also creates penalties that kick in when an owner renews a permit for the second time but work on the façade is not progressing. The latest version of this bill seems to address a concern raised by the Real Estate Board of New York, which requested that owners be given the opportunity to show what is going on with their site. Owners must submit a report to the Department of Buildings explaining why work has stalled (be it a financial reason, inability to access a neighboring property, etc.) to avoid penalties.
— Another bill bumps the first required façade inspection for newly-constructed buildings from five years post-completion to eight. It also requires the DOB to complete a study and come up with recommendations to change the city’s Façade Inspection & Safety Program, or FISP. Specifically, the measure calls on the DOB to increase the time between façade inspections from five years to sometime between six and 12 years. DOB must provide a recommendation by the end of the year, and the changes would go into effect on October 1, 2026. (Last year, DOB Commissioner James Oddo indicated that his agency had already hired a firm to study FISP and make recommendations).
— Hunter green is so 2013. One of the bills requires the DOB to study and recommend new sidewalk shed designs by Sept. 30. The bill also expands the permitted color palette for sheds, adding metallic gray, white or “a color matching the façade, trim, cornice, or roof of the building.”
—Those three bills are sponsored by Council member Keith Powers. Another bill, sponsored by Erik Bottcher, would ramp up penalties for façade work that is not completed in a timely manner. For example, owners who fail to file a permit application for façade work within eight months of receiving a shed permit will face penalties between $5,000 and $20,000. The latest version of the bill allows owners to plead their case to the DOB to explain why they need more time to complete repairs. A second bill sponsored by Bottcher requires more lighting under sidewalk sheds.
Some of these bills overlap with ongoing efforts by the Adams administration, which launched the “Get Sheds Down” initiative in 2023. Last year, the mayor announced that the initiative had resulted in the removal of 173 miles of sidewalk sheds in the city. The administration also tapped two firms, ARUP and PAU, to come up with six new designs for the sheds.
What we’re thinking about: The state budget is due in one week. What policies are you hoping will make it into the budget? Which ones are you dreading? Is there something you think deserves more attention? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The New York Housing Conference estimates that the city will build 15,750 fewer housing units over the next 10 years, compared to average production in recent years. The group is basing its analysis on the Preliminary Ten-Year Capital Plan, which shows capital funding for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development go from $3.6 billion this fiscal year, to $3.3 million next year and down to $2 billion or less each year between fiscal years 2027 and 2035. The group warns that such drops in funding will mean that the $2 billion in state and city funding dedicated to City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will “plug budget holes rather than support additional needs.”
Elsewhere in New York…
— ICYMI: Mayor Eric Adams tapped Randy Mastro to be his new First Deputy Mayor, replacing Maria Torres-Springer, the New York Times reports. Back in July, the mayor nominated Mastro to be corporation counsel, but Mastro withdrew his name from consideration when it became clear that the City Council would not approve his appointment.
— In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she was going to increase oversight of Mayor Eric Adams, but those efforts have stalled out, Politico New York reports. The City Council would need to approve the governor’s plan before it heads to the state legislature. “We had a preliminary conversation a few weeks ago and there were a lot of questions and concerns raised by Council members that I think will need to be worked through before we have a package that is ready for prime time,” said Brooklyn Democrat Lincoln Restler, who chairs the Committee on Governmental Operations, told Politico.
— Assembly member Zohran Mamdani doesn’t want your money. That’s because he raised more than $8 million, hitting the fundraising cap for his run for mayor, Gothamist reports.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Monday was $14.7 million for a condo unit at 151 East 58th Street in Midtown East. The One Beacon Court unit is 4,500 square feet and last sold on the market in 2005 for $13.2 million. Serhant’s Alen Moshkovich had the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $10.8 million for
151 Avenue A in the East Village. The rental building is 9,600 square feet, five stories and has eight units.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $17 million for a co-op unit at 1020 Fifth Avenue. The Upper East Side co-op has four beds and four bathrooms and was listed by Compass’s Eric Brown and Zeve Salman of the Elevated Team.
— Joseph Jungermann
