Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn
New high-rises going up, a steady run of facade work, and the question every crew asks: how high can a boom lift go?
What’s happening in Downtown Brooklyn
Twenty years after the 2004 rezoning turned Downtown Brooklyn into the borough’s high-rise center, it is still building up. The next wave is tall: a 30-story apartment tower on Duffield Street, a pair of 27-story buildings on Lawrence Street, another 27-story building on Fulton Street, and more in the high teens and low twenties on Smith Street, Livingston Street and Pacific Street.
The other half of the story is the buildings already standing. Look up along Jay, Adams and Willoughby Streets and you will see hanging scaffolds on the older towers. A lot of that is the city’s facade inspection program (Local Law 11), which every building over six stories goes through every five years. Down at street level there are sidewalk sheds on Atlantic Avenue, Court Street and Livingston Street, and new mechanical systems going into offices and apartments.
Where boom lifts come in
On a 30-story tower, a boom lift does not reach the top, and it should not have to. That is what suspended scaffolds and hoists are for. Boom lifts do the work in the first 60 to 125 feet: the storefront glass, canopies and signs, the setbacks and lower roofs, the first floors of facade panels, steel connections and the sidewalk shed itself.
An articulating boom has a knuckle in the middle, so the platform goes up, over and down. That is what lets a crew reach past a shed, a parked truck or a lower roof to the wall behind it. Our fleet covers the range:
- 40- and 45-foot electric booms. Quiet and emission-free for courtyards, lobbies and early hours, about four floors of reach.
- 45-foot diesel Genie Z-45/25J. More power for the street and the lot.
- 60-foot JLG 600AJ and 80-foot JLG 800AJ. Six to eight floors, the height of most of the older facades on these blocks.
- 125-foot JLG. For the jobs between the low-rise reach and a full suspended scaffold.
What we rent for this work
See all our boom lifts · No online checkout: call for availability and a quote.
Picking the right size
Count roughly 10 to 11 feet per floor in an apartment building, and add about 6 feet of working height to the platform height. A 40- or 45-foot boom covers about the fourth floor, a 60-foot boom the fifth or sixth, and an 80-foot boom the seventh or eighth. Our 125-foot boom covers the tall jobs in between, and above that you are in suspended-scaffold or hoist territory. Pick electric (DC) for indoor work and quiet hours, diesel for outdoor reach and rough ground.
Further reading
- Downtown Brooklyn marks 20 years of transformationArchitectural Record
- OSHA fact sheet: aerial liftsOSHA
- Facade inspections and Local Law 11 (FISP)NYC Department of Buildings
- Sidewalk shedsNYC Department of Buildings
- Boom lift vs. scissor liftAmerican Rentals
Questions we hear from Downtown Brooklyn crews
Can I use a boom lift instead of a suspended scaffold for a facade inspection?
For the lower floors, often yes: a boom lift gets an inspector or a crew to the first five to eight floors without rigging the roof. Above that, a suspended scaffold or rope access is the usual answer. Your engineer decides what the inspection needs.
Can a boom lift work from the sidewalk or the street?
Often, yes, but setting equipment on a city sidewalk or street can need a NYC DOT permit, and the job may already have a sidewalk shed in the way. Your GC or expediter will know what the site has. An articulating boom can reach up and over a shed from inside the lot or the curb lane.
Electric or diesel?
Electric booms are quiet and emission-free, so they suit indoor work, courtyards and early hours on residential blocks. Diesel booms have more reach, more power for slopes and soft ground, and no charging to plan around.
Do you deliver to Downtown Brooklyn?
Yes. We deliver across Brooklyn and the rest of New York City from our yard at 181 2nd Ave in Gowanus, or you can pick up at the yard. Call 718-344-1474 to book.
Can I rent by the day, week or month?
All three. A month is a 4-week rental. Call 718-344-1474 for availability.
More for this area: equipment rental near Downtown Brooklyn · Boom lift guide