Mayor's office initiative looks to clear NYC streets of scaffolding, sidewalk sheds

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Sidewalk sheds are a part of the landscape of Manhattan streets, but some don’t need to be standing for as long as they do. Mayor Eric Adams is working to clear the streets with the administration's “Get Sheds Down" initiative. The mayor's office says sidewalk sheds and scaffoldings - nearly 10,000 of which exist citywide- cost Manhattan businesses between $4,000 and $9,500 each month in what would have been weekly transactions in the six months following the shed's construction. The mayor's office, along with the New York City Department of Buildings, say they are working to improve access, ​public safety and quality of life for all New Yorkers through the Get Sheds Down initiative. "We think a lot about vibrant, public space, and I know one thing that is not a part of vibrant public space...scaffolding. We need safety, absolutely. But New Yorkers need sunlight, they need air, they need to look up and see nature. Scaffolding dilutes that. It makes it crowded. It confined us. And I think it's bad for our mental health," says Jackson Chabot, director of advocacy and organizing at Open Plans. "