Harlem Building Owners Charged In NYC Sidewalk Shed Crackdown: DOB

HARLEM, NY — The owners of a Harlem apartment building where scaffolding has stood for 11 years have been named the latest targets in city officials' latest crackdown on the permanent metal eyesores.

City officials issued summonses last month to the owners of 27 West 129 St. on accusations they failed to upkeep the building’s facades and submit required reports.

The building's scaffolding — or sidewalk shed, in city parlance — was first erected for routine maintenance in 2013, sources told Patch. Instead of making repairs within 90 days of filing a report, owners Francis and Donna Synmoie reportedly left the shed as a perennial safety fixture on the Harlem block for over a decade.

Attempts to reach the building's owners Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Two other buildings — 220 Park Avenue South near Union Square and 214 East 29 St. in Chelsea — were also issued summonses in mid-January over failure to maintain facades.

The latter building’s owners also failed to submit the required reports, sources told Patch. Those buildings have six- and 11-year-old sidewalk sheds, respectively.

The next court date for all three cases is set for March 19.

"These were all issued for sites that have had their sheds up for years without any meaningful progress being made on the projects that necessitated their construction," a representative for the NYC Department of Buildings told Patch. “Taking building owners to court over these issues has proven to be an effective method of enforcement in the past and we hope it will continue to be with these cases."

The crackdown comes on the heels of Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious Get Sheds Down plan announced this summer, which incentivizes building owners to repair facades faster than leave protective sidewalk sheds up for years.

The plan also calls for monthly penalties to building owners maintaining sheds not directly related to new buildings or demolition projects, as well as encouraging safety netting, additional lighting and attractive, vibrant designs with expanded color choices to necessary scaffolding.

Five hundred sheds have been taken down since this summer, or about three every day, Adams said at a December press conference, moments after the city’s longest-standing sidewalk shed came down at 409 Edgecombe Ave. in Harlem. That shed stood undisturbed for 21 years.

Related: NYC's Longest Standing Construction Shed Comes Down In Harlem

There are still more than 8,400 active, permitted sidewalk sheds in the five boroughs, with some dating as far back as 2010, according to city data. The sheds span nearly 2 million linear feet and are in place for an average of 513 days.

“Sheds have been long used as a tool to bring about a decrepit atmosphere in a community,” Adams said in December. “Those building owners found it was cheaper for the shed to stay up than make the repairs. We’re saying no to that. Sidewalk sheds were created to protect New Yorkers from safe buildings and construction sites, but they stay up far too long.”