Residents of an Upper West Side building are losing their patience over its scaffolding – which they say has now been there for 15 years.
Patch appears to be the first publication to have covered the rental building (pun definitely intended) located at 51 West 86th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.
via Google Maps
In a June 30 report, Patch reports that the scaffolding shed first went up in 2006, and that netting was extended to the top of the sixteen story building that same year, with no warning. The publication has reached out to the landlord, Weinreb Management, which has not gotten back to them.
While a Department of Buildings spokesperson told Patch that Weinreb does “… have a legal responsibility to keep their building in a safe condition and make needed repairs to the facade,” they also stated that work permits Weinreb had filed in October 2020 have now expired, leading to multiple violations and over $100,000 in penalties issued to the building owner.
The story was soon picked up by Pix 11 News, whose reporters spoke with residents who are fed up. “I hate the scaffolding,” said one resident to open up the segment.
Beyond the eyesore and headache the scaffolding and netting have created, residents facing the front of the building are frustrated over the lack of sunlight and abundance of pigeons these building obstructions have led to.
At least some of the residents of 51 West 86th Street are paying a pretty penny to live there, with Streeteasy showing past 1 bedroom listings in the low-to-high $3000s and 2 beds in the mid-to-high $4000s.
Disgraceful. A ridiculous system has led to scaffolding thousands of days old at many addresses in our neighborhood. As I look out my window I see three such buildings. A tangled web of incentives leads to behaviors that no one (save a landlord) wants and no one in a decade has been willing to stand up and say this makes no sense. Businesses die under scaffolds. Vices multiply. Enough of this nonsense. QoL is a real thing.
All of this scaffolding is such an eyesore. Right when they take it down on one block, they put them up on the next one. New challenge: how many blocks can you walk across in a straight line without running into scaffolding?
The “pun intended” is not a pun. It’s a double entendre.
Our building’s scaffolding (at 116 West 72nd Street) has been up for SIX years…so disheartening when I hear about all the legal and construction snags involved. I thought our story was the saddest one – until I heard about 51 West 86th Street.
Thank you Bill, for clearing that up!
I’ve written before about this despicable, grab you by the balls scaffolding nightmare- do you have a CLUE what it’s like to LIVE with 2 or 3 guys for 2 years ( the only separation is your window and oh!!! Wouldn’t it be nice to throw open?)!? Because you do when you’re on the second floor. And for one, I? I will NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER SECOND FLOOR APARTMENT IN NYC!!
But I digress and repeat- WHY on earth CANNOT these repair men HANG a large net underneath their hanging work space? Put rods off the outer corners to keep that net flying 10’ out past the edges of the work space??? Why does scaffolding have to be on the ground, disturbing, bothering irritating everyone,??
Come on, NY! THINK!!!
This is an ongoing problem all over the UWS – and all over the City. My understanding is that an initial permit for sidewalk sheds and/or scaffolding is for four years, after which an extension must be filed. I am not sure how many extensions are allowed. But once a sidewalk shed or scaffolding is up for a full four-year period, it should require a full review by the DOB. If the work has been completed, the landlord must take down the structure. If not, the landlord must be given a fixed time period in which to complete the work (e.g., another two years), after which the structure must be removed. It is really stupid and annoying how long landlords keep these structures up.
Why does the UWS have so many buildings with scaffoldings? Our entire street is up with scaffolding now.
It seems like the inspections never fail to result in having to do the work every time they are inspected, and the cost of the project is always in many millions. This is like you have to go get your car inspected and the shop would tell you that you need to fix your car with the same thing every year and the cost is never less than $20k.
We need to do something about this NYC.
The Astor on 76th and Bway not only has scaffolding up but it has a cage for vehicles to park in on 76th street. The only vehicles I ever see parked in it when I pass it during the daytime are private vehicles. Someone should check to see if the permit for the cage hasn’t expired. No one should have private parking on a public street.
All this scaffolding is a scourge upon not only the UWS but all areas of NYC. I recently contacted our district rep Helen Rosenthal’s office (district 6) about the scaffolding problem in general and the Chatworth apt building at 312 W72 in particular. The Chatworth has had scaffolding surrounding it for 8 years! Teri Darwish from Helen Rosenthal’s office said with current laws/statutes nothing can be done. I’m not sure about that. But I’m sure the law/regulations need concerning “indefinite” scaffolding need to be more punitive.
Wow, what a shock that Helen Rosenthal office said nothing could be done. “Nothing can be done and nothing is done” speaks for her reign on UWS.
Great to see her go, but she is desperately holding on to Wiley’s coat-tails.
You need to learn something before you resort to insults. Ms. Rosenthal is correct; there is little or nothing that can be done. This is because of the laws that surround sidewalk shed and scaffolding. And she knows those laws, so she knows that the issue is nor resolvable at this time. Her colleague, Ben Kallos, has been looking into this for some time, trying to pass new legislation that would limit the time it could be up.
Your knee-jerk reaction re Ms. Rosenthal, who has been a pretty good Council member for her constituents (of whom I am one), is unnecessary and, ultimately, misplaced.
https://ny.curbed.com/2019/12/4/20994695/nyc-buildings-scaffolding-construction-sidewalk-sheds
Certainly a matter of opinion. I for one think she was a disaster for her constituents, regardless of the degree to which she has any real sway in a scaffolding situation.
I can only ask, “based on what?” If I, as one of her constituents (and there are hundreds, even thousands more like me) feel she has done a good job for us in a variety of ways, on what are you basing your opinion?