NYC’s Longest Standing Construction Shed Comes Down In Harlem

HARLEM, NY - This Harlem sidewalk shed is old enough to order an old fashioned.

And old fashioned it is: when the sidewalk shed at 409 Edgecombe Ave. went up in 2002, Michael Bloomberg was mayor, George W. Bush was serving his first term as U.S. president and Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” was at the top of the charts.

At long last, the “overbearing, soulless steel” on West 155th Street — since dubbed the oldest continuous sidewalk shed in the city — has finally come down, Adams administration officials said during a removal celebration on Friday.

“As we looked around this city, we realized too many sheds have become permanent fixtures of our landscape, of our city. We said no to that,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “This beautiful historical landmark building had to be encased in a shed because it was easier to keep it up than to do the repairs and take it down.”

409 Edgecombe in Harlem was home to Civil Rights legends like W.E.B. DuBois and Thurgood Marshall. For 21 years, residents of Harlem sacrificed the beauty of a historical landmark because property managers repeatedly failed to do their job.

That ends today. #GetShedsDown pic.twitter.com/cBOSzlkmvg
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) December 22, 2023

The shed at the Harlem building first went up to protect residents and people on the sidewalk from falling debris during a restoration project, Patch previously reported, but stayed up after a lightning strike damaged the work and funds ran dry.

“We’re hoping it’ll come down soon,” a resident told Patch in 2021. “It’s shelter on a rainy day but there is a legitimate fear that something will fall down.”

The celebratory removal comes as part of 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.

500 sheds have been taken down since this summer, or about three every day, Adams said Friday.

The historic 409 Edgecombe Ave. has touted notable residents from W.E.B. Du Bois to Thurgood Marshall to Roy Wilkins over the years, Adams said, but the long-term sidewalk shed has served as an “eyesore” that leaves current residents vulnerable to criminal activities.

“Sheds have been long used as a tool to bring about a decrepit atmosphere in a community,” Adams said. “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.”

There are still over 8,400 active, permitted sidewalk sheds in the five boroughs, with some dating as far back as 2010, according to city data. According to the NYC Department of Buildings, these are now the 10 oldest sidewalk shed permits in New York City:

• 1772 Second Ave.: May 13, 2010
• 605 East Ninth St.: Sept. 29, 2010
• 443 West 40th St.: June 16, 2011
• 444 West 21st St.: March 1, 2012
• 41 Maiden Lane: April 23, 2012
• 233 West 74th St.: July 19, 2012
• 231 West 74th St: July 19, 2012
• 133 Greenwich St.: Aug. 17, 2017
• 344 West 72nd St.: Dec. 5, 2013
• 2139 Broadway: June 19, 2014

While it is rarely the case, a sidewalk shed permit being active does not necessarily mean there is a shed standing at the location, as occasionally there is a delay in the Department of Building's tracking.

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi said Friday that the administration is working closely with city council to study the local law that governs sidewalk sheds and investigate whether a new inspection schedule would better align with New York’s growing building stock. Under the current law, buildings must be inspected every five years and, if a flaw is found, sidewalk sheds must go up until the problem is resolved.

“The sheds need to go up because we have to remember why we are here in the first place,” Joshi said, referring to the death of a Barnard College student in 1979 who was struck by falling building facade.

“That memory is always why safety is going to be first, but we have to be cognizant that building has changed over time, and if we have the ability to change the schedule to make it work for New Yorkers … that’s absolutely what we’re going to do.”