New York City’s council has now rules to help get scaffolding down faster. The council passed new scaffolding legislation Wednesday.
Councilman Keith Powers, a sponsor of the legislation, says sidewalk sheds take up room, they are an eyesore and they block the sightline for businesses.
“We have been fighting to shed the sheds, to get rid of the scaffolding to make our city safer, strengthen our small businesses and improve everyone’s experience on the streets.”
New rules now require bring the permit timeframe for making façade repairs way down from one year to three months. There’s also more lighting required now under the scaffolding and stiffer fines for non compliance. Officials say there’s more than 84-hundred scaffolding structures across the city. They have been up for an average of nearly 500 days.