New York City-like the Empire State Building, scaffolding occupies an important place in New York City's urban landscape-some scaffolding has a similar sense of timelessness.

Not the city's current 8,900 scaffolding—or, in the city’s terms, “sidewalk sheds”—all have the life of the two-year-old, intermittent scaffolding in West Village.

According to the city's sidewalk shed permit tracker, most people rise and fall in an average of 261 days.

But others have been building it for several years-according to New York City data, about 500 pavement sheds scattered in New York City have been built for more than a year. And the true age of some sheds is difficult to measure because the city’s tracker only goes back to the most recent permit.

Go to the sidewalk shed in front of 409 Edgecombe Ave., a landmark building in Harlem. The shed's fresh forest green paint obscures its true age: 15 years old.

"People move here, they don't even know what the building looks like," resident Mike Dorset told Patch.

The Buildings Department stepped up law enforcement in 2019 and initiated civil and criminal nuisance mitigation cases against property owners. Officials began to file criminal proceedings against the owners or management agents of the seven properties with the oldest sheds, and they have been regressing from the case 10 years ago.

Construction Ministry spokesperson Andrew Rudansky said in a statement: “Sidewalk sheds are an important tool to protect the public from the danger of falling debris.” “However, when the owners let the repair work stall, let their These sheds can also be annoying when the sheds are kept much longer than necessary. In recent years, we have strengthened enforcement agreements, increased fines, and taken positive action in courts to force these owners to carry out necessary actions on their buildings. Repairs in order to demolish these sheds and return valuable street space to New Yorkers."

However, there is still a small group of people who have been at least ten years old. Patch looked at the four oldest.

When the "temporary structure" defined by the city becomes more or less permanent, the following will happen to buildings and blocks.

The beautiful 409 Edgecombe Ave. apartment building has a legendary history dating back to the Harlem Renaissance.

According to WNYC, Thurgood Marshall and WEB Du Bois are among its outstanding former residents.

This history has helped it obtain another distinction that may not be popular-the city's oldest continuous sidewalk shed permit, which was approved on April 27, 2006.

During the restoration project, the scaffolding was raised to protect people from falling debris. But after lightning strikes destroyed jobs and dried up funds, it persevered.

"We hope it will drop soon," a resident told Patch. "This is a shelter on rainy days, but there are reasonable reasons to worry that something will fall."

Many of the oldest scaffolding in the city are located on iconic buildings.

The building at Nos. 24-26, West 9th Street, West Village is such a structure. Neighbors are frustrated with its scaffolding — it has been rising from time to time since 1999 — to the point where they formed an organization called Take It Down.

“The shed blocks the light and fresh air for the tenants. This means noise all night for the neighbors. Drunken people, drug addicts, trash and rats gather under these sheds,” a representative of Take It Down gave Patch in a statement Wrote in.

“Plants, shrubs and trees will all be affected. For owners of old, poorly maintained buildings, it is cheap and easy to put the sidewalk shed for years, thinking it will solve the next problem of the building there. Instead of forcing the landlord to complete this work, DOB only needs to restart the clock with a new permit."

But Georgia Adams, the head of the building's ownership group, attributed the blame to the city's landmark preservation committee, although he did not specify how to proceed.

"The problem is a landmark," he said, hanging up before Patch reporters asked follow-up questions.

According to DOB, approximately one-third of sheds can prevent unsafe exterior wall conditions. Owners must make changes within 90 days, and according to recent rule changes, they may face fines of tens of thousands of dollars a month.

But a dirty little secret is that many owners find that maintaining them is cheaper than paying for expensive repairs.

Like many other city dwellers, City Council Member Ben Kallos expressed frustration with the scaffolding that had been standing for years.

"Frankly speaking, as a city, we were unable to complete these repairs and demolish the sheds, which embarrassed us," he told Patch recently.

The brick facade of 335 West 39th St. is an empty shell next to a Hampton Hotel.

The interior of the building was stripped, and only the only wooden chair was seen. But its external scaffolding bears all the literal signs of the construction site under bright neon lights.

The 12-year-old scaffold also displays a series of permits and striking "stop orders." The owner of neighbour Aleef Deli, who asked not to be named, said that construction stopped a few weeks ago and a lot of dust was also generated.

"The scaffolding will be down soon," he said someone told him.

If the scaffolding collapses, this will be the first time the building has no sheds since the permit was issued on January 8, 2009.

A long list of all-caps complaints against the Ministry of Construction shows that since then, construction has stopped and started at best.

A complaint in December 2017 stated: “The old building is not occupied and no work is being done. The shed has been at architectural level for 8 years. The debris fell from the shed, there were no lights, and the plywood was lost.”

According to city records, a scaffold has been placed in front of 66 Reade St. for 13 years. A nearby nail salon employee said that she often sees construction.

"It looks like they are doing something," she said, emphasizing "looks."

The shed did not cause a long list of official complaints, but it was part of a block dominated by scaffolding. In nearby bars, dance studios, and Starbucks, a network of pipes supports wooden canopies.

Across the street at 67 Reed Street, a nine-month-old scaffold is being used as a temporary shelter.

The sidewalk sheds in this neighborhood, new or old, are only a small part of the 331 miles of scaffolding that covers the entire city. Kallos told Patch that nothing can be more than 90 days old.

A bill is currently being considered that will enforce the 90-day rule.

"More than 300 miles of scaffolding crowded urban sidewalks, damaged local businesses, and undermined the quality of life. Now is the time to implement this reform," he said.

Patch writers Sarah Belle Lin and Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.