Halstead Property

William S. Ross
Director of Development Marketing
wross@halstead.com
(212) 613-2001

Prolonged Presence Of Sidewalk Sheds Perturbs Retailers In Downtown Brooklyn

Safety over Appearance, Says Buildings Dept.

By Odelia Bitton

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The sunlight that once streamed through the windows of The Tailored Pet is a receding, blurring memory to store owner Serena Bellino now that the Pineapple Walk is shrouded beneath a sidewalk shed. The Tailored Pet and several other businesses on that stretch must accommodate a structure they say blocks light, discourages potential customers and houses the homeless.

“It’s just depressing,” said Bellino, whose store of pet grooming products was the first to open on Pineapple Walk about 35 years ago. “I feel like I’m working in a subway station.”

Pineapple Walk, a short promenade that slices through Henry Street and Cadman Plaza West, is sheltered beneath a wood-and-steel canopy that was erected in May. The high-rise at 101 Clark St. on the south side of the walk is undergoing repairs to its façade, and has received a notice from the Department of Buildings (DOB) to allow the sidewalk shed.

‘We Looked Up And It Was There’
“We looked up, and it was there,” said Dmitri Likourentzos, who runs Park Plaza Restaurant nearby. According to DOB, building owners who erect sidewalk sheds along their properties don’t need to notify affected residents and businesses.

In addition to sustaining damage to the exterior columns of his restaurant while the shed was constructed, Likourentzos said he has also lost two catering events because of the shed’s “ugly” appearance.

Meanwhile, Bellino is bracing herself for the long haul. “They say in October it’ll come down,” she said. “I’d bet my store that it’s not going to come down when they say.”

Several blocks away, at 80 Cranberry St., a shed was dismounted this summer after years of weathering the elements along with similar criticism from area residents and businesses. At the historic 16 Court St. office building, a sidewalk shed erected more than a year ago still rounds the corner, hovering above a Duane Reade and several other businesses. And the red sidewalk shed at St. Ann’s Church at 157 Montague St. no longer warrants a second glance from straphangers entering the nearby subway entrance.

“Construction in New York City never ends when it’s supposed to,” said Bill Ross, Director of Development Marketing at Halstead Property in Brooklyn. “The permitting process, working with the Department of Buildings plus deliveries all make it very difficult.”

Others attribute the staying power of sidewalk sheds to the high demand for contractors, changing financial situations, and expansion of construction and repair plans.

Safety vs. Aesthetics
“As it stands right now, the law allows a building owner to put up a sidewalk shed for as long as he desires,” said DOB spokesperson Kate Lindquist. An owner must renew his sidewalk shed permit or face a violation. An applicant is not required to submit a timetable, she added.

“A sidewalk shed being up too long, compared to a building that might fall down — we’re going to prioritize,” said Lindquist, stressing that safety is the main concern. Various construction projects, ranging from façade repair to replacing windows to interior renovations, require sidewalk sheds. The DOB requires applicants to state the need for such a shed.

Sidewalk sheds are also erected to comply with the law after owners are given violations for unprotected repair work. First-offense violations range roughly from $500 to $2,500, but can go higher. According to one scaffolding company that has erected many such structures in Brooklyn, a sidewalk shed of up to 50 feet can cost $500 a month in maintenance. After paying a $7,000 installation and removal fee for a shed that size, however, an owner is not charged a maintenance fee for the first three months.

Such a deal would believably prompt owners to complete their work in that time frame. The countless sidewalk sheds that are strewn about the city for longer periods point to other factors. Often, a shed’s prolonged existence is due to a shift in construction plans when problems or additional needs are discovered. A change in work may require a new building permit, Lindquist said, but not a new permit for a sidewalk shed.

In the case of a building owner responding to a violation, the building is not audited for repairs once the sidewalk shed is up, Lindquist said. This is yet another factor in the time owners can take to do work on their buildings.

“If you put up a sidewalk shed, you will always have a legal responsibility to maintain a building in a safe and lawful condition,” Lindquist said. “An inspector can go to a site when we receive complaints and requests from the community. We encourage [community members] to speak to their elected local officials.”

Likourentzos hasn’t reached that point of frustration. “I understand that [building owners] have to do this,” Likourentzos said as he stood in view of the shed outside his window. Still, like his upset neighbors, he insisted that sheds are a discouraging and bothersome sight.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007

Thursday, September 27, 2007