New York City's Sidewalk Shed Epidemic

Construction and repair work brings with it a collection of temporary structures. Too often, those sheds, scaffolds, barriers, and portable toilets can become semi-permanent fixtures that mar the beauty of a street or facade for years on end. Aaron Elstein documents one such case: the New York City sidewalk shed.

A 1980 law requires building owners to protect pedestrians from falling masonry, but good intentions have led to unexpected side effects. Elstein writes, "[Landlord Muhammad] Shahid may infuriate people who live near his property, but he's one of many landlords who have concluded it's cheaper to keep up a shed—and pay fines for violations—than it is to fix a building."

The maze of sheds girdling the city's walkways are an unsightly nuisance to residents and business owners. From the article: "The chief purpose of this particular shed, on a handsome block in the Mount Morris Park Historic District, seems to be to collect garbage and provide shelter to the loiterers who lurk underneath. Repairs at the building it surrounds move at a glacial pace."

The scale of New York's shed problem is troubling given its status as the nation's most walkable metropolis. "There are now nearly 9,000 sheds entombing city streets, according to the Department of Buildings, up from about 3,500 in 2003. That's 190 miles worth of sheds, or 1 million linear feet."