This is one of the more interesting sidewalk sheds–scaffolding that covers sidewalks and protects pedestrians below where building work is being done above–that I’ve seen in NYC. It’s near Bryant Park in Manhattan. In addition to be cleaner looking scaffolding, it features semicircular lighting that probably looks nice after dark. Most scaffolding in the city looks like what you can see in the background on the left–utilitarian and spartan. According to Gothamist, there’s about 400 miles of scaffolding spread throughout the five boroughs. Between the buildings and the scaffolding, it’s easy to imagine where Isaac Asimov got the idea for the setting in The Caves of Steel (1953).
