By Gary Martin
As the rains were coming down recently and I was tucked nicely under one of the many, MANY sidewalk sheds on the Upper West Side, I thought ‘Well, this is nice.’ See? I am capable of looking at the bright side of life!
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Gary B. Martin is an illustrator and animator who has lived on the Upper West Side for more than 30 years. His illustrations appear in the Rag on Sundays, chronicling life in the neighborhood, New York City, and the Universe. See them all here. For a broader range of Gary’s work, including animations and other motion graphics, please visit www.martoons.com
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Mr Positive! Love it
G—
And how many people under that shed had open umbrellas?
Another great one! This is so true.
Nice streetscape.
So true
So true! And the peeps of baby pigeons in their nests are another bonus of these shelters from the storms.
My secret to never needing an umbrella has been exposed! Thanks a lot, Gary.
“Who’ll Stop the Rain” when “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”? Clearly, it’s NYC’s many sidewalk sheds that prevent “Raindrops [from] Fallin’ on My Head”. Thanks Gary for your unique vision! Nobody “Gonna Rain on [Your] Parade”!
And dont step on the cracks!
Now there’s the upside to endless scaffolding that we’ve all been searching for!
So good Gary! Looking at the bright side!
A little bit like the famous arcades of Bologna.
Call me a contrarian, but I’ve always valued sidewalk sheds and wish there were more of them around town — though actual arcades (think, e.g., of the Barclay–Vesey Building) would be better.
I hear Eric Idle whistling in the background…..
And my pooch needs to go out regardless of weather, so the sheds are quite helpful of late!
I actually change my walking path to stay under scaffolding, even if it lengthens my trip
I still don’t want sidewalk sheds. It kills businesses underneath.
The shed on the bank at 74th and Amsterdam protects a lot of my walk to Fairway. No umbrella!
This is the only upside to the scaffolding scam stronghold that has overwhelmed our fair city!!! When will “WE” take back our sidewalks and our $$$$$$$$$$ from these scammers????
Are my eyes playing tricks on me? For a split-second I thought the fella in the trench coat was Andy Capp.
Good one!
Thanks, Gary.
I knew there had to something positive about all that scaffolding!!!
GOOD THINKING! 😉
That’s you! Looking at the bright side 🙂
Keeping track of the sidewalk sheds is a newly-acquired skill of mine…helps keep me dry on my walk to the subway station on rainy days.