Senator Hoylman-Sigal & Assemblymember Lasher Unveil New Scaffolding Legislation & Announce Sheddies “Winners”

NEW YORK - Today State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D, WFP-Manhattan) announced the “winners” of his months long competition for the worst scaffolding project on the West Side of Manhattan, The Sheddies, and introduced new legislation with Assemblymember Micah Lasher (D - Manhattan) to address unwanted and unnecessary scaffolding projects in New York. The RESTORE (Reducing Excess Scaffolding and Timely Ongoing Repair Efforts) Act would create a property tax abatement for the timely completion of building facade repairs and the removal of sidewalk sheds within one year of installation, as well as a property tax penalty for failure to remove a shed within 18 months of installation. 

The bill aims to reward good actors by relieving the financial burden of façade repairs when they are completed, and sidewalk sheds are quickly removed; while also penalizing building owners who leave sidewalk sheds up for more than eighteen months, unless the delays are the result of factors outside the owner’s control. Under the RESTORE Act, if an eligible property owner completes repairs and removes associated sidewalk sheds within four months of installation, they will be eligible for an abatement equal to 50% of their property tax burden or 50% of the cost of the project, whichever is less. The level of abatement decreases 5 percentage points with each additional month the sidewalk shed stays up, and eligibility for any abatement ends after 12 months. If a property owner fails to remove the shed within 18 months, they will be subject to a penalty equal to 10% of property taxes due on the property, plus 2% for each additional month, not to exceed an annual penalty of 25% of property taxes due on the property. 

In addition to the RESTORE Act, Senator Hoylman-Sigal will be introducing additional legislation with Assembly Member Grace Lee (D - Manhattan) in the coming weeks that will help to remove unwanted scaffolding projects.

Senator Holyman-Sigal was inspired to write legislation to help get scaffolding down faster after his months-long campaign, The Sheddies, where constituents submitted nominations for the most egregious scaffolding projects on the West Side of Manhattan. There were over 100 submissions for The Sheddies and 6 winners were chosen for the following categories. 

Worst Shed on the West Side: Commercial - 698-700 Amsterdam Avenue 

Worst Shed on the West Side: Residential - 51 West 86th St

Worst Shed on the West Side: Public Facility-  148 West 78th Street (PS87)

Worst Shed: Hell’s Kitchen - 450 W41st Street

Longest Standing Shed on the West Side: - West Park Presbyterian Church - 165 West 86th Street

Worst Shed on the West Side: Overall - 51 West 86th St

The Sheddies announcement, which came just days after the Academy Awards and featured a red carpet and special oscar themed trophies, was held outside the “winner” of the Worst Shed on the West Side: Overall award, 51 West 86th St.

Senator Hoylman-Sigal said: “With over 100 submissions to our Sheddies campaign, West Siders have made it clear that they have had enough of ugly scaffolding covering their buildings. Today we gathered in front of 51 West 86th Street, winner of two Sheddies awards including the ‘prestigious’ Worst Shed Overall award.  This sidewalk shed received the most nominations of any scaffolding project in our district which is not considering it has been up since 2006. No scaffolding project needs to be up for that long which is why Assembly Member Lasher and I are introducing the RESTORE (Reducing Excess Scaffolding and Timely Ongoing Repair Efforts) Act to establish financial incentives to quickly take down scaffolding as well as penalties for failing to do so.”

Assemblymember Lasher said: “Like so many New Yorkers, I simply hate sidewalk sheds, and have watched despondently as they’ve grown like weeds on the West Side. Many of these sheds stay up way longer than necessary, and our neighborhood is darker and dirtier as a result. The RESTORE Act is meant to get sidewalk sheds removed more quickly by providing tax benefits to building owners who plan ahead and get work done efficiently, and by imposing penalties when sheds stay up for absurdly long periods of time. Let’s get the damn scaffolding down!”