Scaffolding up at Harlem building for 17 years

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - People who live in Harlem are fed up with scaffolding outside an apartment building at Lenox Avenue and West 115th Street.  It's been there for 17 years.  

So you're probably wondering what is the story.  How could a building have scaffolding for 17 years?

It sounds ridiculous.   Well, here's the story.

The building is owned by the Lenox and Pennamon Housing Development Fund Corporation, which is controlled by the West Harlem Community Organization, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing.

The city's buildings department tells Fox 5 that the owners have been cited for 29 code violations, mostly for the dangerous facade and falling debris.

The department has fined the owners about $86,000 over the past decade.

$38,000 of that has been paid but under the law, the buildings department says the city cannot make the owners fix the building's exterior. It can only fine them $1,000 per month and require scaffolding to protect pedestrians.

So, the scaffolding might be there for years to come.

Fox 5 News called the building owner, but haven't heard back.