In the lipstick on a pig department, the city Department of Buildings is trying out new designs for sidewalks sheds on its headquarters building on Chambers and Broadway, and you just have to cross the street to see with your own eyes it’s an improvement.

[I guess I shouldn’t be so grumpy about it, but how about just finding a way to NOT have sidewalk sheds to begin with? Go to any other MUCH OLDER European city and there are none! How? What’s wrong with us?? Citywide there are 8400 sidewalk sheds. You can see them on this map here.]

These are just two of the six new sidewalk shed designs the city has approved — installed just as a display in front of the Department of Buildings’ headquarters building for the next couple weeks. The schematics for these two new sheds, and four other designs, are being codified through the agency’s rulemaking process. The sheds are intended to enhance the pedestrian experience with higher ceilings, better visibility and better lighting. (And, grumpy alert, I imagine they can still be up for decades.)

[To continue my rant, I am DONE with the decade-long construction site that is 172 Duane, and I can’t believe that the city can’t just shut them down. Same goes for 45 Park Place, which has closed an entire stretch of sidewalk for the public with an indefinite end.]

In 2024, the Adams administration awarded a $3.5 million contract to two architecture firms — Arup and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) — to come up with the six new designs. The two installed on Chambers are the Flex Shed and the Rigid Shed, both designed by the Arup team. The Flex Shed is a light-duty model intended for buildings undergoing maintenance work and emergency repairs. The Rigid Shed is a heavy-duty model intended for major projects, like renovations and new construction. Engineered for strength, the design features no cross-bracing but still allows longer spans between vertical supports to create a feeling of openness for pedestrians.