Mona Chalabi Instagram – In 2009, six people with connections to the Lucchese crime family who worked as inspectors for New York’s Department of Buildings were charged by the district attorney. As part of the investigation, the owner of a scaffolding business was also accused of bribing inspectors. So! To say that this city is covered in scaffolding because of organized crime isn’t a wild conspiracy theory buuuut if you want to understand why the average NY scaffolding project stays up for 495 days (!!!) there are some other reasons too…  It’s expensive to install and cheap to leave up so a lot of buildings just don’t bother to take it down if there’s a chance they might need more repairs done soonish. This is shit because scaffolding makes sidewalks difficult to navigate (esp with a wheelchair or stroller) and reduces sunlight. This was a commission for @guardian 🏙️ Source: NYC Department of Buildings, April 2023