Sky Revealed: A Tribeca Sidewalk Shed Finally Comes Down After 20 Years

A worker last month removes portions of the sidewalk shed on Murray Street, west of Broadway. The protective structure had been in place for many years, although work on the facade of 253 Broadway rarely took place, residents said. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

When it comes to the city’s unsightly sidewalk sheds, what goes up too often does not come down. 

That looked to be the future for residents of 9 Murray Street, a building in the shadows of one of those structures, they say, for more than 20 years.

Now, finally, it is gone.

“We’re thrilled. More than thrilled,” said Suellen Epstein, a 46-year resident of 9 Murray Street. 

For years, the residents had complained not only about the shed, but also a caged construction staging area on the street that gathered “tons of trash.” 

Once, after complaining to a Department of Transportation official at a community board meeting, the shed was disassembled for a few months, the residents said. Then it was put back up.

“It was like coming back to your house and your house is a freaking mess,” said Michael McCaffery, who has lived with his wife Pauline Ores at 9 Murray Street for 38 years. “I’m an architect,” he added, “and I never got space on the street for the contractor to park his car and leave all the material.”

Now that the “big ugly thing” is gone, he said, “there’s more light on the street. More light even on the ninth floor.”

Estimates differ among residents over how long the shed was up, but there is agreement that it’s been more than two decades, with work rarely taking place on the facade. (A Department of Buildings spokesman said there have been “various times” since 2007 that sheds have been in place for “long periods” between 2007 and 2015.)

The Buildings Department cites the city-leased 253 Broadway, an individual landmark, as an example of the city’s “Get Sheds Down” plan announced by Mayor Adams in July, 2023. In a statement, the DOB said that it has been focusing on removing the sheds from buildings owned or leased by the city. Many sheds were erected by owners presumably complying with the city’s Local Law 11, which requires owners to maintain their buildings’ facades and pass inspection every five years.

In all, according to the DOB, 196 sheds within Community Board 1 were removed since the plan’s announcement, but none of them, other than 253 Broadway, were considered “long-standing” sheds, meaning they have been in place for five years or more. 

In Community Board 1, there are 16 long-standing sheds, according to city records. One of them, at 41 Maiden Lane, was installed in 2012. Two others, at 129 Fulton Street and 46 Warren Street, went up in 2015. But much to the relief of the residents of 9 Murray Street, the granddaddy shed of them all is now history. Suellen Epstein recalls her reaction when she looked up from the front of her building as workers continued the dismantling.

“Oh my God, you guys,” she told the men. “I can’t even see, it’s so bright out here. I haven’t seen the sun for years!”