Manhattan businesses hidden under scaffolding and sidewalk sheds lose thousands of dollars a month in potential revenue, according to a new city-commissioned study announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday.
The findings offer a snapshot into long-standing frustrations around structures that are part of the city’s landscape and designed to support building construction and maintenance, even as they present an eyesore to the general public and can remain for months and even years after they’re actively needed. The study, which was not released in full at the time of Adams’ announcement, showed that Mastercard customers on average spent up to $9,500 less a month at businesses covered by scaffolding, compared to the period predating the structure, according to the mayor’s office.
Restaurants and bars bore the brunt of the losses, with a nearly 10% hit to weekly transactions in the six months after sheds were erected outside their establishments.
The study is part of Adams’ broader crackdown on scaffolding, which critics have called unnecessary and obtrusive. The structures have become a familiar object of derision for many residents, and have prompted multiple mayoral administrations to pledge to get rid of them.
“Some people have been playing games and they think they can keep [scaffolding] up as long as possible,” Adams said at a press conference in Midtown on Wednesday. “We have to look at every pathway that allows these sheds to remain up in our city and we have to dismantle each one of them.”
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, which represents the city’s restaurant and nightlife industry, said the study provides a glimpse into a broader issue than Mastercard users in Manhattan.
“People pay with American Express or they’re paying with cash — they’re similarly being deterred as well,” he said.
Adams said he was working with the City Council on a package of bills to permit sidewalk sheds and scaffolding in different colors, bolster lighting and shorten the duration of permits. The mayor and lawmakers are also seeking to increase penalties against building owners who are slow to carry out repairs.