HABITAT
Co-op / Condo Board Primer Sidewalk Sheds
A reader asks: Last spring, our 12-story co-op in The Bronx began a major exterior repair job. After a few weeks of construction, the project was put on hold because of problems with the contractor, whom we subsequently fired. The board is planning to put the project out to bid again, and it looks like the work won't resume until the spring.
In the meantime, the sidewalk bridge installed in the front of the building is still up, and the owner of the dry cleaners next door has complained to our board that it blocks the sign to his store. In addition, the residents on the second floor of our building are grumbling that the bridge blocks out natural light into their apartments and that the debris and razor wire on the bridge are ugly. Plus, most of the lights under the bridge are broken, making it dark at night.
Must we keep the bridge up throughout the winter even though there's no repair work going on, or can we have it taken down and then put back once the project starts up again in a few months? There are no signs on the shed, so we're not sure whom to contact.
Sidewalk sheds, those ubiquitous steel-and-ply-wood structures designed to protect pedestrians from falling debris during construction work, are longtime fixtures in New York City. According to the Department of Buildings (DOB), there are roughly 6,000 sheds (sometimes referred to as sidewalk bridges) installed throughout the five boroughs at most any given time. While many people consider the sheds an eyesore (although a new design may change that; see sidebar), they are a necessity of life in a city with a building stock constantly undergoing repair, upgrade and renovation, not to mention demolition and new development.
When a Shed Is Required
The New York City Building Code requires buildings taller than 100 feet to install a sidewalk shed that extends 20 feet beyond the building — even if the shed crosses the property line — during exterior repair work above or near where people pass. For buildings less than 100 feet in height, the sidewalk shed must extend five feet past the building. The shed must maintain this coverage for as long as the shed is installed, whether or not construction work is being performed.
The DOB also says that the sidewalk shed must not "unreasonably obstruct, either visually or physically, entrances, egress, driveways, and show windows of adjacent properties." Store signs are another matter, however, and sometimes the shed installation cannot avoid blocking them. In such cases, a temporary store sign is usually installed on the shed, which your co-op should do as a courtesy for the store owner.
As for the second-floor residents in your building, they unfortunately will have to bear the inconvenience of the shed blocking out natural light into their apartments. However, razor or barbed wire installed on a sidewalk shed is prohibited and should be removed. The sidewalk shed also should not be used as a storage area for tools or materials or a dumping ground for litter or other debris. In addition, the broken lights under the shed are a safety hazard and must be immediately fixed.
The DOB requires the holder of the shed permit to post a 25-square-foot sign that states the name of the company holding the permit, the company's address and phone number, and the permit number and expiration date. But since there is no permit sign on the shed, the original contractor is no longer on the job, and you haven't yet hired a new firm, building management should call 311 to report the unsafe conditions and find out when the shed permit expires.
Shed Removal
If your building has any unsafe Local Law 11/98 items, such as cracked bricks or loose masonry, the sidewalk shed must stay in place even if the project is on hold. The same applies to a building that has been downgraded to unsafe status because of overdue SWARMP (Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program) items from a previous filing cycle, even if those items were not considered truly unsafe at the time of the latest inspection.
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