NYCHA Finally Pulls Down Scaffolding At Sheepshead Bay Houses

Public housing residents in Sheepshead Bay can finally see some sunshine on their sidewalks.

While construction crews labored in the background, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced at a Thursday press conference outside the Sheepshead Bay Houses that more than eight miles of scaffolding had been taken down at NYCHA buildings around the city, the New York Post reports.

During the press event, workers removed the last of more than 7,100 feet of scaffolding around the Sheepshead Bay Houses on 2935 Avenue W, according to the Post.

According to News 12 Brooklyn, residents said the unsightly structures, some of which has been up for five years, made them feel like they were living in a prison. They also said the scaffolding was were poorly lit, making it dangerous to walk at night.

NYCHA promised to installed a high-tech video monitoring system to deter violent crime in its buildings back in 2011. However, scaffolding obstructs the view of some of those cameras, providing cover for illegal activity.

Earlier this year, police investigated a shooting outside the Sheepsehead Bay Houses that sent one man to the hospital with a gunshot wound.

In 2013, then-Public Advocate de Blasio named the Sheepshead Bay Houses and the nearby Nostrand Houses as some of the most neglected in the city, ranking them 19th and 22nd on a list of the 349 worst NYCHA properties.

NYCHA promised to improve maintenance at its buildings. Last year, the authority still has tens of thousands of backlogged work orders, though it made progress in reducing that number from a peak of 420,000 in 2013.