DOB aims for simpler construction signage

If the city’s Department of Buildings has its way, curious New Yorkers will no longer need to sift through dozens of complicated permits to find out what’s transpiring at local construction sites. They’d only need to eye one sign.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the buildings department has launched a pilot program that encourages developers to put a single comprehensive sign on the plywood surrounding construction sites that details all the permits and includes a rendering of the project.

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“We want to make sure the average New Yorker who walks by knows what’s going on behind the fence,” said DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri.

The first project to employ the new signage is the first phase of the CityPoint development at 1 Dekalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. The Journal contrasts the simplicity of the signage there, complete with a rendering and a list of work being done, to the ones that adorn the International Gem Tower’s plywood. There 23 DOB permits, 15 permits from the Fire Department and eight Department of Transportation permits are posted. The Journal noted the signs describe a whole host of features and infrastructure work that has minimal impact on most New Yorkers. [WSJ]