by: Bria Donahue
Yesterday, AIA New York joined Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, DOB Commissioner Jimmy Oddo, Borough President Mark Levine, Council Member Keith Powers, and Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu to support the Get Sheds Down Initiative. In addition, AIANY submitted testimony in support of sidewalk shed reform to the City Council Housing and Buildings Committee who was hearing the following bills:
- Int 369 (Powers), in relation to a pilot program for the use of unmanned aircraft systems in the inspection of the exterior walls of buildings greater than six stories in height
- *Int. 391 (Powers), in relation to sidewalk shed design requirements
- Int 392 (Powers), in relation to requiring permit holders responsible for sidewalk sheds or scaffolding to repair or replace certain damaged city-owned trees
- Int. 393 (Powers), in relation to removing construction-related equipment
- *Int. 394 (Powers), in relation to altering the timeline of initial façade examinations for new construction and coordinating all façade examinations on each city block
- Int 436 (Sanchez), in relation to the electrical code and repealing chapter 3 of title 27 of the administrative code of the city of New York in relation there to
- Int. 503 (Abreu), in relation to requiring DOB to create and maintain an assistance and outreach program for compliance with façade inspection requirements
- Int. 659 (Bottcher), in relation to preventing interference of sidewalk sheds in parks and playgrounds
- *Int. 660 (Bottcher), in relation to required lighting under sidewalk sheds
- Int. 661 (Bottcher), in relation to penalties for failure to apply for corresponding work permits after installing a sidewalk shed
- Int. 774 (Marte), in relation to sidewalk shed inspections
- Int. 796 (Stevens), in relation to providing local community boards and elected officials with advance notice of the installation of sidewalk sheds
- Int. 956-A (Rivera), in relation to the display of artwork on temporary protective structures on construction sites.
AIANY supports efforts to reform sidewalk shed laws to improve the design of sidewalk sheds, get sheds down faster, and incentivize façade work be done efficiently. In an effort to improve public space and quality of life for New Yorkers by removing sheds faster, we are particularly supportive of the design changes in Intro 391, the updates to lighting requirements in Intro 660, and the inspection timeline adjustment in Intro 394. Aesthetic changes, such as increasing the minimum shed ceiling height to 12 feet, expanding the lighting requirements, and allowing more colors beyond hunter green, are key first steps to improving the impact of sidewalk sheds on our public realm.