After neighbors needled every city agency involved, and then asked Councilman Chris Marte office to help out, the city was able to force the landlord at 65 Franklin to remove the construction shed that has taken over the sidewalk on both Broadway and Franklin for the past five years. Thanks to P, J and T for the photos and updates.

The project there — a scheduled 19-story building that broke ground in 2019 — has been stalled since 2022? 2021? While the fencing jutted out into Franklin, trucks regularly jumped the curb on the northside, damaging the building across the street. From what it seems, excavation on the site also resulted in the destruction of two extra buildings — 59 Franklin and 358 Broadway. (Though there are plans dating from 2016 that call for an L-shaped building on those sites.)

The Buildings Department, after prodding from Marte’s office, conducted a site visit at 65 Franklin in June and issued a summons for failure to remove temporary construction equipment, a violation of a building code that states: “Public property shall be left in as good a condition following the completion of the construction or demolition work as it was before such work was commenced.”

Hopefully the next step is to move the fence back to the property line on Franklin as well. T. said it looks like the sidewalk on Franklin is fully intact. “I hope the crew does the job on Monday,” he said, “but I am not holding my breath.”