How Nice Should a Sidewalk Shed Be?

"The sidewalk tunnel around the building all but obliterated access to a Le Pain Quotidien café on the lobby level - truly, you would have had no idea it was there but for a small temporary sign - and it may not be a coincidence that the LPQ closed around 2019 and its space remains untenanted. The base of the tower also incorporates the former Norman Thomas High School, now home to a couple of smaller DOE schools and one charter Success Academy."

"Judge the Eric Adams mayoralty as you will - as the voters already have - but on this subject, it's done some good and popular governing. The administration's Get Sheds Down program intends to be comprehensive, calling in part for new designs that are less oppressive to walk around or under, along with a variety of other procedural and policy reforms."

A plywood sidewalk shed at 3 Park Avenue has remained for over a decade, intermittently receding and expanding and obscuring the plaza. City permit records show a 2021 date, but Google Street View documents a decade-plus presence. The sidewalk tunnel largely blocked access to a Le Pain Quotidien café, which closed around 2019 and remains vacant. The tower base houses former Norman Thomas High School space now used by smaller DOE schools and a charter, with the school entrance rendered uninviting. The Adams administration's Get Sheds Down program seeks comprehensive removal or redesign of sidewalk sheds, calling for less oppressive designs and procedural reforms. Scaffolding is distinct from sidewalk sheds, as scaffolding climbs walls and sidewalk sheds span sidewalks.

Read at Curbed