NYC officials are killing two birds with one stone–solving the city’s practically nonexistent parking space issue and beautifying the nearly 400-miles-worth of NYC scaffolding by combining the two!
The NYC Department of Buildings and NYC Department of Transportation recently announced they’re teaming up to create elevated outdoor dining sheds, and they’re expected to hit NYC as early as spring 2025!
On average, sidewalk sheds and scaffoldings are on city streets for 498 days, and there are 230+ current scaffoldings that have been up around the city for over five years. City officials recently went on a search for artists to beautify the city’s scaffolding, but now they’re attacking this eyesore issue from a new angle.
The elevated outdoor dining sheds will be built atop NYC scaffolding, therefore making use of these (mostly) abandoned structures, giving New Yorkers space to dine outdoors (perfect timing for the approaching warm weather), and leaving the street underneath open for parking.
Restaurants interested in participating in the program will have various customization options to match their branding, and each setup will include anti-rat mitigations, the ability to withstand inclement weather, and be ADA compliant.
It’s definitely easier to say goodbye to NYC’s clunky outdoor dining sheds now that we have these on the horizon!
APRIL FOOLS!
Yeah, actually none of this is happening!