Scaffold Covers Nearly All Of UWS Landlord's Buildings: See It

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A landlord that recently came under fire from residents over unrelenting scaffolding outside of an Upper West Side building owns 11 Manhattan properties and 10 of them have active sidewalk sheds.

The new discovery comes a little over a month after Patch first reported on the growing frustration from residents of a building at 51 West 86th St. that's been swathed in a sidewalk shed scaffolding for the last 15 years.

It is a new statistic that residents say shows a clear strategy by the landlord, Weinreb Management, to keep sidewalk sheds and scaffolding up while paying off any associated fines.

"A penny dropped for 51 West 86th Street tenants when we discovered that 10 of the Weinreb Management Company's 11 Manhattan buildings have sidewalk sheds," the building's tenant association said in a statement to Patch. "We suddenly realized what the game is: our landlord is skirting the facade laws at the expense of tenants. It's shameful."

Weinreb Management did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Patch.

Weinreb Management owns 11 buildings in Manhattan, according to an online landlord database platform called WhoOwnsWhat. Those buildings are exclusively on the Upper West and Upper East Side, and 10 of the 11 have active sidewalk sheds.

Here are the 10 Weinreb buildings that are currently covered in scaffolding.

• 5 West 86th Street
• 51 West 86th Street
• 255 West 88th Street
• 350 Central Park West
• 777 West End Avenue
• 420 West End Avenue
• 276 Riverside Drive
• 145 East 92nd Street
• 46 East 91st Street
• 110 East End Avenue

“The owners of these properties have a legal responsibility to fix their buildings and remediate all of the unsafe façade conditions," a spokesperson from the Department of Buildings said when asked about Weinreb's long list of buildings covered by sidewalk sheds. "Until those repairs are made, the sidewalk sheds must stay in place to prevent debris from falling onto building residents and their neighbors - the safety of our fellow New Yorkers is the priority here.

These property owners should know that their continued inaction will be met with aggressive enforcement and even higher penalties from DOB until repairs are made.”

Weinreb Management has already had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in sidewalk shed-related penalities.

Looking at just the seven Upper West Side buildings, Weinreb has had to pay a total of $421,000 over the years in penalties for failure to correct the facades.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer wrote a letter to the DOB shortly after Patch's first article on the scaffolding at 51 West 86th Street to add pressure on Weinreb Management to take down the sidewalk shed.

• Read More: Scaffold Covers UWS Building For 15 Years, Residents Say

"I'm calling on the Department of Buildings to provide a response to my first letter which they have yet to do," Brewer told Patch. "I'm reiterating my request that they take action on the 86th street building as well as all these other buildings, and compel Weinreb to make the repairs they have been making instead of putting up unsafe scaffolding that stays up for years."

Weinreb Management hasn't responded to any requests for comments from media, but did respond on July 26 to a letter sent by tenants. The landlord said that there were certain delays caused by NYC Landmarks and that all applications to proceed on construction have been submitted.

Multiple of Weinreb's buildings are within historic districts, including the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, but due to the lack of response from the building's landlord, it is unclear how this landmark designation might have played a part in slowing repairs.

"We're so sick of having blocked views and the filth that comes with a decade and a half of a sidewalk shed," said a longtime tenant at 51 West 86th St. who did not wish to be identified by name. "The city needs to step up here! We hope the tenants in the other Weinreb buildings will also speak up and demand action."

Here's a complete breakdown of the UWS buildings under Weinreb's management, according to the Department of Buildings.

• 5 West 86th Street
  • Sidewalk shed was first permitted on 1/7/20.
  • Most recent FISP report indicates UNSAFE conditions.
  • Permits for an exterior façade restoration project were issued on 3/1/21.

To date, approximately $54,000 in penalties have already accumulated related to failure to correct the façade condition. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners stop taking steps to fix their building facade.

• 350 Central Park West
  • Sidewalk shed first permitted on 2/23/09.
  • Multiple FISP reports indicating UNSAFE conditions over several cycles.

To date, almost $60,000 in penalties have already accumulated for failure to make repairs to the facade. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners continue to fail to take steps to fix their building facade.

• 255 West 88th Street
  • Sidewalk shed first permitted on 3/2/17
  • FISP report first indicating UNSAFE conditions in 2017

To date, approximately $55,000 in penalties have already accumulated related to failure to correct the façade condition. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners continue to fail to take steps to fix their building facade.

• 276 Riverside Drive
  • Sidewalk shed first permitted on 9/28/15
  • FISP report first indicating UNSAFE conditions in 2015.

To date, over $74,000 in penalties have already accumulated related to failure to correct the façade condition. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners continue to fail to take steps to fix their building facade.

• 777 West End Avenue
  • Sidewalk shed first permitted on 12/3/14.
  • FISP report first indicating UNSAFE conditions in 2014.

To date, the Department has issued approximately $60,000 in fines to the landlords for their failure to make repairs to the facade. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners continue to fail to take steps to fix their building facade.

• 420 West End Avenue

• Sidewalk shed first permitted on 2/18/15.
• Most recent FISP report from 2015 currently states that the façade is Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP).
• The owners have not yet filed their Cycle 8 FISP report, and it is late.

To date, the Department has issued approximately $10,000 in fines to the landlords for their late façade filings.

• 51 West 86th Street
  • Sidewalk shed first permitted on 7/6/06
  • Multiple FISP reports indicating UNSAFE conditions over several cycles.

To date, approximately $108,000 in penalties have already accumulated for failure to make repairs to the facade. These penalties will continue to climb if the owners continue to fail to take steps to fix their building facade.

Patch received photos of the 10 Manhattan buildings under Weinreb's management that currently have scaffolding up.

The 10 photos are courtesy of the 51 West 86th Street Tenants Association.