More specifically, it has this many:
This, according to a NYC government website, equals 8,660 active shed permits covering 1,959,444 linear feet. And on average, these construction sheds are erected for 493 days. If you’ve been to New York recently, this will all sound right to you.
I thought I had read somewhere that this has to do with a property tax benefit. Something about if you keep your hoarding up after construction completion, you can avoid immediate reassessment.
But according to some sources, the proliferation of sheds is mostly driven by the city’s Facade Inspection & Safety Program, which requires that all buildings taller than 6 floors have their facades closely inspected every 5 five years.
So presumably, keeping these up for an extended period of time is the less costly and less risky option.
BRANDON DONNELLY 
Because of Local Law 11, these sheds are ubiquitous and semi-permanent now. My building had shedwork for over a year. The similar-sized building across the street has had them for over 2 years. I’m not sure if the clock resets to after the final work is done, or if they just count from when the work began, in which case the building across the street might get to may a 1-2 years shed free before it has to start all over again, which is a major piece of disruptive sidewalk work in the most densely populated city in America.
This all started because a few bricks fell out of a very few poorly inspected building, and one of them killed a prominent architect who just happened to be walking by (irony!).
But it’s become a make-work waste of time and money, a drain to any brick building anywhere, and an actual discouragement to building with bricks for future buildings. The last part means more glass and steel boxes, wasting energy, serving as uninspired uniform overly-brightly lit high rises where everyone can view your bedroom from the street (for some reason, New Yorkers are poor shade-pullers). Talk is about using drones to quickly inspect facades, but it hasn’t happened yet and so we are stuck with the sheds and the constant “dental” work on the facades with all the noise, unsightliness and even poor color matching that entails.
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