Sidewalks of New York

If you've ever walked beneath sidewalk scaffolding in New York and feared that it might not be the safest place to be then the following will do nothing to alleviate your paranoia. A reader who works across the street from my apartment building informs me that scaffolding that went up recently above Barneys Co-op on 18th Street is holding up a 2-ton pile of bricks. The same scaffolding went up on the 17th Street side of the building -- and one morning last week, it crashed onto the sidewalk. Below are some pics of the rubble, looking out the reader's second-floor office window toward 18side of the street. It looks like at least 2,000 pounds of brick -- imagine if this side "goes," too. You wouldn't likely live to tell. He tells me he called the City's 311 number about this safety hazard -- we'll see what changes, if anything.)

Danger Zone