What an eyesore! Mayor Eric Adams announced that he’s cracking down on the city’s all too familiar, unsightly 400 miles of scaffolding and shabby sheds throughout New York City.

Promising steeper fines and stricter enforcement, Hizzoner slammed the “ugly green boxes” loathed by New Yorkers as prime offenders for blocking sunlight, deterring customers from businesses, and even serving as a “magnet” for illegal activity.

“While sidewalk sheds were created to protect New Yorkers, they now have become unsafe constructions. It is…a safe haven for criminal behavior,” Adams said in Chelsea on Monday.

The Department of Buildings requires the structures to cover city sidewalks to protect pedestrians from fallen debris or other safety hazards during construction work.

But some have been standing for decades, even if no work is being done on buildings, thanks to lax enforcement and little to no penalties leveled against building owners. 

“Most sheds stay up for longer than a year, and some have darkened our streets for more than a decade. We have normalized the sheds all over our city and that is unacceptable,” groused the mayor.

City records show around 9,000 active construction sheds permitted by the Department of Buildings that have been standing for over a year, with an average of 500 days and more than 1,000 have been up more than three years.

City Hall needs the City Council to pass legislation that would greenlight the improvements proposed:

Adams said small businesses will be eligible to apply for funding from a $75 million fund if they can’t afford to make necessary upgrades and repair work.

“We must show the visual beauty of this city, and it should not be in the skeleton body of these sheds,” the mayor said.