By Gus Saltonstall
The sidewalk shed and scaffolding that covered the northwest corner of West 110th Street and Broadway came down at the end of May.
The construction equipment had been up for four years, and while that is not nearly as long as some other Upper West Side scaffolding, it was a location that West Side Rag heard about repeatedly during those years from residents in our tips email, and at block association meetings for nearby streets.
The attention around this specific shed, which was connected to 601 West 110th Street, had to do with the amount of activity in the surrounding area.
Along with the busy 110th Street intersection, the sidewalk shed covered a 1 train station and a fruit stand, as well as a Chipotle, Five Guys, and Playa Bowls, all of which are popular with nearby Columbia University students.
The shed also extended down 110th Street toward Riverside Drive.
The stanchions of the sidewalk shed, along with the fruit vendor, delivery drivers connected to the restaurants, and people congregating at the 1 train entrance, all lent to the sensation of needing to weave in and out of tight corridors while traveling on the block.
Here’s what the sidewalk looks like now.
The sidewalk shed first went up at the location for alteration work at the property on February 19, 2021, according to the Department of Building’s Sidewalk Shed Tracker. The construction work hit a snag in the winter of 2022, though, when a routine inspection of 601 West 110th Street was submitted to the DOB that labeled the building’s facade as “unsafe,” according to a spokesperson from the city agency, as first reported by the Rag in October 2024.
With the new designation, a variety of other alteration work on the building had to take place related to the facade, along with separate ongoing wiring and renovation projects within the Playa Bowls and Five Guys storefronts, a DOB database shows.
Scaffolding and a net were also erected in 2023 that covered the entirety of the Broadway-facing side of 601 West 110th Street.
“Have been waiting for this since we moved in next door back in 2021,” an Upper West Sider wrote about the 110th Street shed removal on the social media platform X.
Atlas Capital Group is the real estate developer that owns 601 West 110th and when the Rag reached out to confirm that the sidewalk shed and scaffolding would stay down, a public relations firm affirmed the update.
“Atlas work has been completed and all scaffolding has been removed,” the spokesperson said, while adding that there would not be new scaffolding going up.
Let us know in the comment section about any other sidewalk sheds located on particularly busy streets on the Upper West Side.
Read More: What’s the Deal With the Sidewalk Shed and Scaffolding at 110th Street and Broadway?
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
“while adding that there would not be new scaffolding going up”
Until their next LL11 cycle kicks in which is likely very soon. The city/DoB need to change their policies – this is an undending scam that only makes money for scaffolding, engineering and construction companies.
LL11 cycles need to start AFTER the latest work is completed and not on a fixed five year cycle.
CNYC is launching an advocacy program to address issues like the unending stream of new DOB regulations and city council legislation. For co-ops the burden of LL11 is becoming too great. Their current outreach urges assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal to bring a proposed bill from her housing committee to the floor by the end of this session (June 12th). Many of us have sent her the following letter. The bill gives co-op owners a status more like regular homeowners instead of the landlord/tenant relationships helping avoid some duplicate compliance regimens.
Re: Please support bill A.1701/S.1745 to reduce the regulatory burden on my Co-op
Dear Members Linda Rosenthal
I understand that the assembly is considering bill A.1701/S.1745 to reduce regulatory burdens on co-op apartments.
Please do all you can to get this voted on and passed during the current legislative session.
My co-op has already been significantly burdened by rental protections already provided for in the co-op law and proprietary lease,
and new regulatory burdens keep adding to our expenses.
Will the shed at 91/bway ever come down? It covers Dagon, Carmine’s, Tal Bagels. It has been up since pre pandemic.
I’ll bet all those establishments like the cover that comes with the scaffolding for outdoor dining
No reasonable person prefers to eat underneath a scaffolding shed. They are always dirty, and get overrun with dog piss in no time. Plus, there’s no chance any business would rather have their front obscured the way that sheds do.
You are so correct. What about the rats 🐀 running around. Disgusting.
I’m lucky enough to have a car so I drive to my special and very clean restaurants in Westchester county.
I don’t know what it is I just can’t eat in the NYC restaurants ugh!!!
🤮
The removal of every shed and scaffolding is reason to celebrate. They are a plague on our neighborhood.
I was so pleased to be able to navigate this sidewalk finally. Seemed like more than four years…maybe Broadway between 104/105 next??? Not holding my breath.
That’s later this month.
From your lips to the DOB’s ear!
Finally. Please get rid of the rest of them on the UWS and Morningside Heights.
As a community resident I am relieved. It was up there way too long. Delivery people would ride on the sidewalk and chain their bikes to the metal bars and congregate, further making that busy corner into an obstacle course. And then there was the couple who lived under the scaffolding for a couple of years. It was something.
Plus, there is the produce vendor and a busy subway entrance. I’ll never understand why the city can no longer control its streets and keep them navigable. Anyway, thank god this shed is down.
The corner looks so much better now. There was also a homeless encampment which lasted for most of the 4 years that the shed was up. What made it by far the worst was the tens of delivery bikes chained to the scaffolding poles at all times. Glad the whole thing is gone.
One thing that became apparent once the shed came down is how dirty the facade of that building is. The whole thing look way dirtier than any other building in Broadway, I wonder why that is.
Agree! It’d be nice if the owners would’ve powerwashed the building and the sidewalk after the scaffolding came down.
For one thing, no rain!
Gotta repeal LL11, it’s a scam for the companies and union that put it up.
There’s a reason no other city is covered in scaffolding.
I wonder just how many lives are saved with this?
What are the statistics pre shed era? How
necessary is this scourge against our City??
It looks so downright naked there now.
The shed surrounding the Astor on Broadway between 75th and 76th has been especially problematic. It’s been up for 7-8 years and almost every store is now vacant with the broadway side especially run down. I understand they are working on the building but the condition and duration is surprising given it’s such an expensive building.
Great! Now do 104th and Broadway!
All the trees either die or are removed when scaffolding is there so long.
Did any thing fall from the facade while the scaffolding & nets were up?
Four years of repairs and restoration and the place looks as dingey as ever. They couldn’t even clean the rust off the base.