The removal at 409 Edgecomb Avenue, a New York City landmark that was once a hub for the civil rights movement, came after a city lawsuit against the property managers for failure to repair the building.
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"For 21 years, residents of Harlem sacrificed public space and the beauty of a historical landmark because property managers repeatedly failed to do their job," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. "Today, we deliver 409 Edgecombe Avenue back into the hands of the Sugar Hill community and remain focused on continuing to safely remove the eyesores that are ugly sidewalk sheds and scaffolding across the five boroughs. With our 'Get Sheds Down' plan, we're cutting red tape to help city government move faster and give our neighborhoods back to New Yorkers."
The sidewalk sheds are designed to be temporary structures to protect pedestrians amid ongoing construction, but 21 years is hardly temporary.
For more than two decades, a box of steel and hunter green wood blocked the light in front of the landmark building. The co-op building dates back to 1917, and its residents who each own a share had to cough up millions of dollars to make the necessary repairs for the century-old facade.
The board president says it took them a long time to scrape together the funds to finish the work.
"This was not us neglecting to repair the building. It was a matter of attaining the resources so we could do it the right way," said Nikki Berryman. "We have been blessed with this 100-plus-year-old dame."
As for the residents of the long-suffering 409 Edgecombe Avenue, as they said their goodbyes, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
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"Now we can really concentrate on being a beautiful significant building, but we're going to have to carry umbrellas now," said Asha Rubin.
"There's a family of raccoons that everyone's worried about that hopefully just went over to the park," said Wendy Hilliard.
The sidewalk shed in front of the city landmark had a lot of history itself. So much history, that if it were a person, it would be old enough to drink.
Since the "Get Sheds Down" plan was launched in July, the Mayor's Office says there are more than 500 fewer actively permitted sidewalk shed in New York City. These sheds covered almost 11 miles of sidewalks in the city, according to the Mayor's Office.
Of the 500 sheds, 75 of them were long-standing sheds, or sheds that have been up for more than five years.
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On Friday, Adams announced a further push to reduce some of the 8,500 sidewalk sheds across the city.
For decades, property owners have been incentivized to leave up sidewalk sheds for long periods of time instead of completing the work that required the shed in the first place. The Adams administration has worked to change the legislation that allowed the sheds to stand for so long.
"The pandemic proved how much our public spaces mean to our wellbeing - not just our legacy parks, but the public spaces right outside our front doors," said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. "Sidewalk sheds are necessary to keep people safe during active work, but they are also an eyesore - and they certainly shouldn't be old enough to go to a bar. We're thrilled to be able to return this space to Sugar Hill and we look forward to continuing the work across the city."
Earlier this year, the Department of Buildings issue a Request for Proposal to design firms for less obstructive pedestrian protection. Plus, new rules went into effect that now allow for art on temporary construction equipment like sidewalk sheds.
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