You could do a real analysis of conditions segmenting buildings by age, height within the 7+ stories group, materials (eg terra cotta), etc. Buildings shown more susceptible to significant wear should be inspected more frequently than others. That said, freeze thaw cycles, aging mortar, etc. mean that inspections just cannot be terminated. — James on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Mitchel Houses complex in the Bronx. — James on Municipal Credit Union coming to Broadway and Chambers

I agree! Those who argue that the sheds add to the quality of life in the city are obviously turning a blind eye to the vast majority of them that are true eyesores, garbage dumps and rat heavens. On the other hand I am all for sidewalk cafes. But note that these are allowed only after strict rules are agreed upon by the restaurant and a city agency: number of tables, area covered, hours open, etc. The eating sheds in the street are in fact private enterprises on city land. They must go! — George Bacon on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

"Pee tunnel" is right...and worse. Not to mention the constant graffiti-fest that is the Walker side of 401 Broadway. It just looks (and smells) horrible. Why don't they do the bare minimum to keep the building maintained? — Marcus on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

I live between two perennial scaffolding at 47 Walker Street and 401 Broadway, both have been up for years. 47 has gained new notoriety among gallery tourists for its unusual appearance of last stage deterioration and seemingly imminent demise while no attempt for repair or renovation has ever taken place all these years. The wrap around scaffolding at 401 Broadway has created a pee tunnel on Walker and shelter for illegal counterfeit goods vendors on Broadway since the pandemic, making quality of life in the neighborhood eternal hell. In this case no work visible until years later. I think building owners should be required to keep the streets under the scaffolding clean since rain can’t reach them. The lack of accountability in this city is truly astounding. — R. on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Is the law that onerous. A normal condo loft building like mine does the work every five years and has the scaffolding up for two weeks max. It’s not the law, it’s the lousy landlords. — Cd on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Much of that area in Tribeca is on land leased from Ponte Equities, including, among others, 70 Vestry (which later bought their land), Fouquet's (the new hotel on Greenwich) and 261 Hudson. I imagine the buyers there paying tens of millions for a condo will be pushing to buy it. — Jay on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

What does this mean in the long term that the condo sits on leased land? Is it no different than the many land leases you see in Sutton Place, or that building at the corner of 6th & 57th? — Jonathan on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

Funny that when they had to sell their units, or is that long term lease(?), they finally fixed that horrible dark prison grey exterior color put in by the original Truffles developer... The land was long term leased so Ponte family would not have to pay a rather sizeable capital gains tax on the land appreciation as they would in a sale. I do realize these built on leased land condos are more common in cities such as Boston - but wonder what the ramifications are here in NYC? And how does one value their "purchase" as noting that in another 90 years the lessee will own them instead of you(?) Q: OR How exactly does this process work in NYC? — Rohin on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

Instead of sidewalk sheds, we could just require signs that say: "Caution: Work Overhead. Beware Falling Objects." Am I dreaming or was this once the way it was done? At least I thought I've seen such signs in other cities. — Marcus on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

My main point, as FiDiGuy points out: the frequency demanded by the law is unnecessary. The spirit of the law is sound, but years have passed since it was implemented and any potentially hazardous facade issues must have been resolved by now. Our recent compliance only found minor issues such that the lion’s share of the cost ended up being soft costs like sidewalk shed, engineering and legal. I’d push it out to every 10-20 years. We must be vigilant and get this law amended. — Mark on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

As a resident in proximity of 253 Broadway, in my 20 years living here, I remember a brief elation when it came down maybe 10 years ago? It went right back up. The eyesore remains a fixture that wraps around and wreaks havoc for three different blocks. Filth and safety issues directly facing City Hall. Take down the shed ! — Mbcg on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Yes! Please, let me know how to get involved in this. I live in Upper East, and it is a big problem here as well. As an orthopedic surgeon who reviews New York State Workers Compensation cases, I am frequently astounded at the numbers and severity of construction laborer injuries that I see, that relate directly to scaffolding.This certainly adds to the overall cost that this ludicrous initiative produces. Local Law 11 MUST go!! — Brad White on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

I am in complete agreement. Any direction as to how we could be helpful moving to his forward, I am in. — Lydia Wagner on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Literally three years ago I went into PS-234 to complain to the building superintendent, the principal of the school and anyone else who would listen because the "shed" that covered the sidewalk on the school's Warren St. side - which had been up for over two years already at that point - had never shown any sign of human activity in all the years that it was in place. The answers I got were non-committal to say the least; it wasn't up to the school to do anything, talk to the Dept of Education. I did but that was, por supuesto, a dead end as well. A few months ago, workers began to take down the shed on Warren, only to replace it with a new one that now stretches around the front of 234 as well. There's still no-one working on it however! Is this eyesore an art installation that we're not aware of? Does the staff and students have a problem with half of the school permanently on the dark side of the moon for the past five years? My son went to 234 many years ago. It was the bright star in public education Downtown for years; to have it look like a shuttered storefront is a shame that no-one in power seems to be concerned about at all. — Nicholas de Seve on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

And again, that is not the definition of "condop". A condop is where the entire building is a condominium consisting of two (maybe three) units where one of them, the residential unit, is then co-oped. — Makes You Go Hmmmm.... on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

Based on what is readily ascertainable by a casual observer, the construction quality of these units (and building) seems a bit underwhelming in view of the price points, no? — Reader on Reade on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

Agreed. I repeat my earlier suggestion for a solution: Get rid of the sheds, widen sidewalks instead, and add the outdoor seating areas adjacent to the restaurants, with or without retractable awnings. That is, European-style cafe seating. This also allows streets to be properly cleaned, since the sheds surely interfere with the street cleaning vehicles. Finally, sheds on the street interfere with maintenance to the street: what happens when the city has to re-pave the street, or access pipes etc. under the shed? This gets rid of the eyesore of the sheds, does not reduce or interfere with pedestrian areas, but still adds the benefits to restaurants and to outdoor street life. Sidewalks in the city were once much wider. I think it's time to return to that design plan. — Marcus on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

A microcosm of NYC’s housing woes: housing built in 2009 as 300 rental units gets (mostly) gut renovated 11 years later to become luxury condos, also losing 126 units in the process. — FiDiGuy on New Building Report Card: 450 Washington, née Truffles Tribeca

…and while we’re at it can we bring some sanity to the sheds that double as outdoor dining for restaurants? — Steve on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

"Nero.lab concept is based on the integration of bars, pastry shops, ice cream parlours, bistros and fast-food restaurants all in a single multi-service space." Sounds like a food court! — Tribeca Citizen on Community Board 1 agendas for March

Have been through a couple of Local 11 cycles with our building now, and don't understand what incentive there is for buildings to permanently leave scaffolding up? Yes - Perhaps there is a hesitancy to spend money to fix the work, some of the costs of local 11 facade are quite exorbitant in NYC. However at the same time, the cost to maintain scaffolding is very expensive as well. Which could explain why more violators are government owned buildings - i.e. other people's money. I shudder to think that individuals working for the city may be ahem financially incentivized to keep paying for scaffolding rather than address the work itself? That may be very real. Yes Local 11 is a pain - and it's expensive as well - but it can be done quickly with a good team - get on with it. — Rohin on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

May they all rest in peace. All beautiful people who had a huge impact on our community. Its very scary for us who stay are now have children in their 20s and 30s. Join the 911 Health Registry, go and get a check up. Be on top of your health. The EPA lied to all who worked and lived down here. Its very scary. — NY Native on In the News: More prominent victims of 9/11 cancers

you guys are forgetting about the corner of Greenwich & Duane. New businesses were promised it would be removed. Its up for years. — NY Native on An effort to tackle the city’s 280 miles of sidewalk sheds

Thanks -- I will correct. Maybe that was a long ago plan... — Tribeca Citizen on Community Board 1 agendas for March