Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Launches New Efforts to Take Sidewalk Sheds Down, Require Fewer Unnecessary Sheds
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good morning, everyone. It is a great day to be here at Highbridge Gardens alongside my partners in government. As we remove the sheds that have blighted this community for more than five years. And I want to say thank you to our Council Member Althea Stevens; to our State Senator Jose Serrano; to our then-Council member, now-Assembly Member, [who] was then the sponsor of Local Law 47, Keith Powers; to our Assembly Member Landon Dais; to our Deputy Mayor of Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg; as well as our DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani. In 1913, Manhattan Borough President George McAneny sounded the alarm about the consequences of industrial urbanization. Polluted air caught between hulking buildings, [and] streets where sunlight never reached the ground. Immediate regulations, he wrote, were needed to, “arrest the seriously increasing evil of the shutting off of light and air from other buildings and from the public streets.” Thus, the 1916 zoning resolution was born with the goal of bringing light, clean air and open space back to New Yorkers across the five boroughs. NYCHA campuses like Highbridge were constructed with this in mind as they paired high-rise residential buildings with open, sunlit landscaped grounds. Residents were meant to be able to enjoy the light and fresh air in the campuses around their homes. And I want to also just take a moment to thank residents, especially our special shout-out to Highbridge Resident Association President Joanne Daughtry for continuing to advocate for exactly that. Yet as we've seen, due to decades of chronic disinvestment in public housing, that promise was broken long ago. NYCHA campuses across our city have been covered with miles of sidewalk sheds for years on end, obstructing paths, co-opting open spaces, and sending the message to residents that they do not deserve the same light and fresh air accorded to other New Yorkers. For more than five years, up until about six months ago, 4,100 linear feet of structures loomed across Highbridge Gardens, darkening walkways, preventing air circulation, and turning green grass to brown. So far, 1,400 feet have been removed, and as you can hear, another 1,400 are currently in [the] process of being taken down. That work is currently taking place, and the final 1,300 will be completed by the end of April. Citywide, sidewalk sheds cover 380 miles, or 7,500 city blocks, thanks to obscure and outdated regulations that make it easier to leave a building in disrepair than to fix the issues that are actually at hand. Some have lingered over our streets for more than 15 years. As a result, New Yorkers have come to expect darkened sidewalks as just another frustration endemic to New York City. This is an issue that extends beyond the structures themselves. The state of our streets has a direct impact on New Yorkers' quality of life. No NYCHA resident should have to go about their days under corrugated tin and plywood simply because they live in public housing. No New Yorker should have their windows blocked out just because their landlord would rather shirk their responsibilities than fix what needs fixing. This past October, I stood beneath the oldest sidewalk shed in our city, almost old enough to vote at 16 years old, and told New Yorkers that from City Hall, we would bring New York City's era of darkness to an end. Today, I am proud to announce that through direct investment and policy reform, City Hall is making good on that promise. First, here at Highbridge Gardens, NYCHA is investing $14.4 million in state funds to facilitate facade repairs across all six buildings, allowing them to remove these structures without it posing a safety risk to residents. Second, our Department of Buildings is advancing two key rule changes to reduce the number of sheds across not only NYCHA campuses but our city as a whole. Currently, city law requires that sheds be placed at least half the height of the building away from the facade being inspected. On campuses like NYCHA, that means structures are mandated to be placed across open spaces that residents should be able to use and enjoy. Effective beginning this August, we will cap this distance at 40 feet, even for buildings taller than 80 feet, significantly reducing the coverage of outdoor spaces and walkways. And just to put it very plainly, for a long time, the language of safety has been the stated intent behind the rules and regulations that we have in our city. But what we have known is, in fact, the extension of those sheds beyond 40 feet does not have all that much to do with safety, and yet it has an incredible impact on the quality of life of New Yorkers. So, we are interrogating every single rule and regulation that we have to answer the question of, [whether] this is necessary to keep New Yorkers safe. And if the answer is no, then it deserves to be changed. To further reduce the number of sheds up at any time while ensuring pedestrian safety, we are also moving forward on the hands-on inspection cycle for buildings less than 40 years old with well-maintained facades, [which will] be increased from every five years to every 12 years, so we can keep our neighborhoods shed-free for longer. These rule changes, alongside others, are the ones that are ensuring that sunlight does not become a rarity in this city, but is it, in fact, something that New Yorkers can come to expect as they walk around the NYCHA residences that they call their home or anywhere, frankly, in this city. Reducing the number of these sheds, helps New Yorkers live a dignified life in the city that they love: an open walkway, a sunlit street, a fixed facade. These are the small changes that make a meaningful difference in people's lives. And as we lead from City Hall, there will be no problem too big, no task too small for our attention and for our work. It is a privilege to be here with all of you today, to be here alongside partners at the city level, at the state level, [and] within our City government, as we all look to bring light back into New Yorkers' lives. Thank you very much. And I will now pass it over to our Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning, Leila Bozorg.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, the first thing is that we're utilizing every single tool at our disposal. And what that means is not only embracing the legislation that was passed, but also aggressively pursuing the rule reform and the regulatory reforms that we can take. And this is just one example of what we're talking about. We have also been hard at work in removing the sidewalk shed at 253 Broadway just across the street from City Hall. There are a number of other sidewalk sheds across New York City that have been removed. Because I think as so many of the elected leaders here have said, this was never the intention in our city, and yet it has become the norm. The other part of this is that, yes, there will be — we will hold building owners accountable. But before we talk about punishment and fines and fees, the thing we're most interested in, frankly, is compliance. And so that's what is also motivating the decisions that we're making when moving from the five years to the 12 years for well-maintained safety over the last 40 years, an inspection that would happen every five years, as opposed to even moving that on a broad level to every six years. It's asking ourselves, is this needed for compliance? Is this needed for safety? If it's not, let's ensure that it's actually doable. And I'll just pass it over to our deputy mayor to speak a little bit further on the questions.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source Well, I have some assistance, perhaps, in the question. But I am going to pass it over in a moment to our DOB Commissioner. What I will say is that safety is paramount to every decision we make. I want to go back to what we spoke about earlier about the previous rule that required sidewalk sheds at half the feet of the height of the building extending out. That wasn't a relationship between any level of danger from repairs on that building to those pedestrians walking underneath. It was an arbitrary rule that was, however, ensuring that the taller the building, the more you would have a tin roof above New Yorkers' heads as they walked across. And that's something that NYCHA residents feel, especially given the typical height of buildings on NYCHA campuses. Commissioner, if you'd like to add anything.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source Just before we go to the next question, I think the last thing I'll just emphasize on the commissioner's points is what we heard from the Assembly Member, Assembly member Dais, which is that the knock-on effects of an antiquated regulatory system also mean increased costs for building owners, increased costs in the realm of maintenance, increased costs that are often also passed on. And when we are talking about ensuring that our intent is matching up with the impact when it comes to safety, it is also looking at controlling those costs to make it that much easier to not just build housing in New York City, also to maintain housing in New York City, and to live in that same housing.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source You know, my wife is the love of my life, and she's also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my city hall. I, however, was elected to represent all 8.5 million people in this city, and I believe that it's my responsibility because of that role to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, I want to be very clear that we are going to pursue an agenda that make our streets safe for every New Yorker, and that means it doesn't matter the mode of transit that you are using, whether you're a pedestrian, you're a cyclist, you're a driver, or you're getting on a bus or riding a train. We're going to see the kind of development of protected bike lanes and protected bus lanes across the city that we haven't seen in many years. And I'm fully confident in my DOT commissioner in ensuring that that is not only a vision, but that is also something that we pursue and that we deliver. And so much — you know, earlier I was asked, what's the difference [between] the previous administration's commitment to sidewalk sheds, [and] this administration's commitment to sidewalk sheds. I think you will find the difference in politics comes down to the results, comes down to whether you can deliver on this vision. And I know that we are early in the administration. I think we've said it's 65 days. However, every single day is an opportunity for us to prove that, and we will continue to do so to New Yorkers, both in terms of our policy for our streets, but also in terms of our policy for keeping New Yorkers safe. Thank you. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Launches New Efforts to Take Sidewalk Sheds Down, Require Fewer Unnecessary Sheds.