Some of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign promises haven't quite come to fruition, like his promise to make buses free, while we won't see others, like $30 million city-owned and operated grocery stores, until 2029 at least. But Mamdani was pleased to announce on Monday that, thanks to the New York City Department of Buildings, New Yorkers will eventually be getting "fashionable" new sidewalk sheds. He announced the project with what we hope is a mockup of a fictional magazine called Sidewalk Shed Digest.
Our streets are getting a makeover! Say hello to New York's fashionable new sidewalk sheds, brought you by @NYC_Buildings. pic.twitter.com/G9nN3xhBOZ
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 13, 2026
"Say hello to a fashionable and breezy addition to the streets of New York."
Wow just what we need fashionable side walk sheds 😭😭😭💀 pic.twitter.com/opbttCoU56
— Chicabonita (@chicabonita2145) July 13, 2026
How about just get rid of the scaffolding
— marty (@Sellingvol) July 13, 2026
Why not just repair the buildings so they don’t fall apart and land on pedestrians?
— Keith Dorschner (@keith_dorschner) July 13, 2026
NYC is getting to be endless sidewalk tunnels.
Looks like a good place for the homeless to sleep and shit under when it rains.
— Brian Stanchina (@StanchinaBrian) July 13, 2026
@grok why are there so many sidewalk sheds that they need a redesign? Are they not meant to be temporary ?!
— Nicko | Longevity Investing (@DrNickAlpha) July 13, 2026
This is actually great, but how about we get rid of them altogether? No other major city has this much scaffolding up all the time. Businesses only leave it up so they can avoid routine maintenance AND liability. It should be used for active construction projects only.
— Ryan Herbert 🇺🇸 (@RyHerbs) July 13, 2026
I thought we were taking these down bro?
— actual new yorker 🤌 (@OnTheReall) July 13, 2026
Is he joking? Please say yes?
— CVP (@vonpcock) July 13, 2026
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The scaffolding implied a temporary existence despite being ugly. These new structures imply permanence and are just as ugly. Maybe uglier.
— Adam Roark AIA (@adamroark_) July 13, 2026
You are painting scaffolds when rents hit an all time high?
— Lisa Says (@LisaPurdue2) July 13, 2026
So you’re just painting the scaffolding?
— Keyser Soze (@KeyserSoze16924) July 13, 2026
Here's a radical idea: stop with the unnecessary sidewalk sheds everywhere.
— Anchiever (@anchiever) July 13, 2026
Stop legislating overly frequent facade maintenance, and enforce takedowns for sheds that are left to rot.
It's not rocket surgery, buy it does require an understanding of the concept of maintenance.
This project won't even be started until the end of Mamdani's term, but maybe it will make the people paying the highest rents ever a little happier.
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