What’s Up With All the Sidewalk Sheds in New York?
If you’ve walked around New York City for more than 30 minutes, you’ve encountered sidewalk sheds--the unsightly structures that cover sidewalks and prevent you from seeing the sun. In fact, the number of sidewalk sheds citywide has more than tripled over the past 20 years. City residents are waging a war against sidewalk sheds, and officials are considering a host of proposals to reduce their number.
New York City law requires sidewalk sheds to be erected when a building is under construction or demolition. Most of the sidewalk sheds across the City, however, have nothing to do with construction; instead, a quirk of New York City law is to blame. Local Law 10 requires building owners to conduct regular inspections of the facades of every building more than five stories tall (aside from those far enough away from public walkways) every five years. Local Law 11 upped the ante by requiring these inspections to be conducted up close, rather than by using binoculars from a distance.
Sidewalk sheds must also be erected whenever there exists a danger to pedestrians below, such as when repairs or maintenance are taking place, or when a hazard is discovered. Accordingly, sheds must be in place during the required periodic inspections and any attendant repairs.
The rub, however, is the cost. Erecting a sidewalk shed can cost upwards of $100 per foot, plus ongoing maintenance costs. For many building owners, taking down and putting back up the shed every few years is prohibitively expensive. Instead, they throw the shed up once and call it a day, or they take their sweet time before taking the sheds down. Some sheds live outside buildings permanently when the building owners identify some maintenance hazards but lack the funds to conduct the necessary repairs. This is common among buildings owned by churches and other nonprofits.
City law requires building owners to obtain approvals and permits from the Department of Buildings before erecting a shed, and the law requires owners to take the sheds down as soon as the need abates. According to an audit of sidewalk sheds conducted by the Office of the State Comptroller, however, most sheds surveyed did not follow the law. “82 percent of the sheds were not displaying the required permits,” while “45 percent had a total of 47 safety issues,” the audit states.
Sidewalk Sheds and Dangerous Trip and Fall Accidents
The problem is not just the eyesore. Sidewalk sheds create hazards of their own, even if they reduce the risk of falling debris. Sheds create a serious risk of tripping and falling for pedestrians, both by forcing pedestrians to navigate around and through them and insofar as they obscure the light. Additionally, many people store goods on top of sheds, such as individuals who live on the second story of the building. This practice creates an added risk of falling objects entirely unrelated to building inspection and maintenance.
There are multiple parties who could be to blame in a sidewalk shed accident, including the building owner and any contractors or subcontractors whose negligence in erecting or maintaining the shed is responsible for the accident.
Moreover, many building owners simply ignore the sheds once they are constructed, foregoing necessary maintenance of the scaffolding itself. The Comptroller’s audit found that 85 percent of the sheds were not maintaining daily inspection reports. Should the shed collapse in whole or in part on a passing pedestrian, serious injury or death could result.
Establishing liability for personal injury or wrongful death because of a sidewalk shed can quickly become a complex matter, explains Leandros A. Vrionedes, a New York injury attorney whose work often focuses on helping injured construction workers and sidewalk trip and fall victims in NYC. “If the sidewalk abuts city property,” says Vrionedes, “then the City is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk in a safe condition.” But for privately-owned commercial buildings, he says, it’s the adjacent building owner who is responsible for injuries caused by a trip and fall due to a sidewalk defect.
“Then there is the scaffold law,” Vrionedes adds, which is a New York labor law imposing absolute liability on building owners and contractors for scaffold collapses and gravity-related accidents to workers engaged in construction, demolition and other activities who aren’t given the proper protection.
“There are multiple parties who could be to blame in a sidewalk shed accident,” Vrionedes points out, “including the building owner and any contractors or subcontractors whose negligence in erecting or maintaining the shed is responsible for the accident.” Vrionedes adds, “Whether the victim was a pedestrian or construction worker on the job is another significant difference that changes the way the case must be approached to hold the responsible parties accountable for the full amount of harm their negligence has caused.”
City Council members are considering options for reducing the blight of sheds across the City’s sidewalks. Proposals include low-interest loans to landlords who cannot afford the repairs otherwise; streamlining permits to conclude construction more quickly; relaxation of the standards for sidewalk protection, allowing for less obtrusive options like netting; and others. The City has begun some oversight initiatives aimed at boosting facade safety and cracking down on sheds that have overstayed their welcome. One of the most promising proposals would allow building owners to conduct inspection via drone, rather than up-close on scaffolding, obviating much of the need for sheds overall.
City residents are hoping officials take more drastic action to address the sidewalk shed issue. As of this writing, there are just under 9,000 active sidewalk shed permits citywide.
