New York City is the most conspicuous violator of its professed marketing campaign to rid the Big Apple of tons of of miles of principally pointless sidewalk sheds.
The so-called Civic Center close to the Municipal Building is a civic shame. Notwithstanding City Hall’s Get sheds down” slogan, city-owned buildings there are a jungle of sidewalk eyesores along Duane, Chambers, Reade and Elk Streets that appear to stand perpetually.They embody landmarked Surrogate Court at 31 Chambers St. and hulking 22 Reade St., which paradoxically is home to the Department of City Planning.
A shed at 2 Lafayette St. overhangs the entrance of 52 Duane St. Credit: Obtained by NY Post
An particularly monstrous shed has darkened all 4 sides of century-old 2 Lafayette St. since 2014.
The tunnel-like enclosure attracts defecating vagrants and drug sellers. It shadows the entrances of a subway station and of next-door 52 Duane St., a 125,000 square-foot, family-owned workplace building that’s appeared dozens of instances in scenes in “Law & Order” and “Blue Bloods.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani proudly launched a “Jobs NYC Center” at 2 Lafayette this month. But as was true of predecessors Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio, Mamdani’s administration has proven zero urgency in repairing harmful Department of Buildings violations on the building’s facade — and even on the shed itself.
The newest DOB recordsdata show 4 violations for the shed and six for the “unsafe” facade. Unpaid fines whole $194,000.
DOB filings courting back twelve years appeared to show that company inspectors repeatedly posted violations that were later eliminated — only to be changed by new violations.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, like his speedy predecessors, seems to have no in repairing harmful Department of Buildings violations on the building’s facade — and even on the shed itself. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock
The appalling scenario has pissed off Michael Salzhauer, whose household has owned 52 Duane since the Seventies.“If a private owner threatened public health and safety this way for so long, we think there’d be crushing civil penalties and maybe criminal prosecutions,” said Blair Axel, a lawyer who’s a member of the household that owns 52 Duane and is representing them.
The Surrogate Court at 31 Chambers St. Obtained by NY Post
Axel said that after months of making an attempt to get the Buildings Department’s consideration, 52 Duane’s house owners finally got a call from the metropolis last week “saying they need to begin planning façade repairs.
But we doubt any work will begin for a while, possibly a long while,” Axel said.
Councilmember Christopher Marte might have helped spur the DOB to at least a semblance of motion. His workplace has been “attentive” to the scenario, Salzhauer said.
Scaffolding stands at 22 Reade St. Obtained by NY Post
Asked to clarify why the shed had stood for so long, a Buildings Dept. spokesman referred us to two other companies.A rep for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which manages 2 Lafayette, said only that the sheds were up “due to the condition of the facade.”
A rep for the Department of Design and Construction, which is “managing a facade restoration project on behalf of DCAS,” said, “We are concluding the design phase soon and look forward to beginning repair work.”
