Snazzy Scaffolding Comes To Madison Ave Through New Partnership

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Sets of snazzy scaffolding will cover stretches of Madison Avenue through a new partnership with the company that designs them, a local business group announced this week.

The new partnership between the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District and Urban Umbrella will give businesses in the area a 20 percent discount on the arched, white sidewalk sheds, which already cover Madison Avenue retailers like the Apple Store, the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel and the Ralph Lauren flagship.

Urban Umbrellas' origins date to 2009, when the design won a competition launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to imagine the city's next generation of scaffolding.

The deal is part of an effort by the BID to keep sidewalks safe without detracting from the aesthetics of storefronts and architecture, the group said.

“Urban Umbrella is a game-changer; it takes what was a necessary element of the New York City streetscape and not a particularly welcome one — scaffolding — and turns it into an amenity, Matthew Bauer, president of the BID, said in a news release.

The discount will apply to businesses within the BID, which runs from East 57th to East 86th streets and along nearby side streets.

First deployed around the city in 2017, Urban Umbrellas are built using high-strength steel, translucent plastic panels, LED lighting and arched support struts instead of the cross-bracing seen in traditional scaffolding.