••• “Built from steel pipes and used plywood, they [scaffolding] snake their way a million feet (or 190 miles) along New York’s sidewalks and have long been considered egregious eyesores. “’They’re really ugly,’ said Robert LiMandri, the city’s buildings commissioner, ‘but they’re a necessarily evil for construction.’ So his department took the initiative to sponsor an urban shed design competition to replace the 6,000 or so ubiquitous, shabby and supposedly temporary sidewalk sheds or sidewalk bridges at construction sites with a more appealing version. The first prototype will make its debut in December when it is installed in front of 100 Broadway, a 24-story office building in Lower Manhattan.” —New York Times

••• Pécan’s Upper West Side spinoff is open. —New York Times

By Ben Fractenberg (courtesy DNAinfo)

••• “‘No fracking way!’ That’s what hundreds of activists, including actor Mark Ruffalo, said about the natural gas-extraction method hydrofracking during a rally Downtown Wednesday—as state officials decided to extend the public comment period on the proposed, highly controversial practice.” —DNAinfo

••• “The Scoundrel of Washington Street: Is Mihaly Kovacsevics the Mayor of Tribeca or a Sticky Fingered Art Thief?” —New York Observer (The Post ran this story in August.)