Mamdani proposes removing scaffolding on city property after three years in new policy to tackle 'concrete jungle gym'
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Monday unveiled a sweeping plan to reduce the number of sidewalk sheds across New York City, pledging to remove all city-owned scaffolding that has been up for more than three years and to overhaul the city’s approach to building maintenance and facade inspections.
The proposal aimed at dismantling what Mamdani called the city’s “concrete jungle gym” was unveiled during a Oct. 20 press conference in Union Square alongside Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Borough President Mark Levine, and City Council Member Keith Powers.
According to city data, more than 8,500 scaffolding structures currently line New York’s streets, most of them in Manhattan. The average structure has been in place for over 500 days, and roughly 370 have stood for more than five years.
“If you put those sidewalk sheds on the highway, they would stretch from New York City to Albany to Buffalo to Montreal and beyond,” Hoylman-Sigal said, calling scaffolding both a public safety and an economic issue that burdens small businesses and blights neighborhoods.
https://www.amny.com/new-york/manhattan/mamdani-scaffolding-removal-nyc-property-proposal/