Mayor Eric Adams unveils "Get Sheds Down" plan to shed sheds from city streets
NEW YORK - Mayor Eric Adams and New York City's Department of Buildings are cracking down on sheds and scaffolding that some say are eyesores and make pedestrians unsafe.
The sprawling eyesores span nearly 400 miles across the city, blocking out sunlight and harboring crime.
The shed in front of Philippe Liquors had made it difficult for Sam Reyhman to attract customers the last two years.
"That's my main concern is the store cannot be seen. Right now, the store sign is blocked, so no one can see the store from across the street," Reyhman said.
There are nearly 9,000 sheds across the five boroughs. At most, officials say repair work should take a few months – but the average time the structures are up is 497 days, and 1,000 sheds have been up more than three years.
"You've got building owners who have done the math. They realized they can spend a little bit of money to rent the shed, or pay a million dollars or more for the repairs, and they're just opting to take the cheap way out, and that is unacceptable," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levin said.
On Monday, Adams unveiled "Get Sheds Down," a sweeping overhaul of rules governing sheds.
It includes:
- Expanding the use of safety netting
- Improving the aesthetics of existing sheds
- Supporting legislation that would implement monthly penalties to owners delaying repairs.
"Our goal here isn't just to collect fines or sue people. It's actually to get the sheds down and get the critical repair work done," Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said.
The proposed penalties would start 90 days after a shed is first permitted and will be issued to the property until the shed is removed. Currently, building owners are able to indefinitely delay repairs with little financial consequence.
"We must show the visual beauty of this city, and it should not be in the skeleton body of these sheds," Adams said.
The plan also includes the creation of a low-interest loan program to provide support to small property owners who lack resources to complete the work.