Brooklyn Gowanus
Five years after the rezoning, the towers along the canal are moving from foundations to floors. That is where the scissor lifts come in.
What’s happening in Gowanus
Walk down Fourth Avenue or along the canal and the change is hard to miss. Five years after the city rezoned Gowanus, the lots that held warehouses, auto shops and parking are turning into apartment buildings, and a lot of them are big. The tallest one planned near the canal is 28 stories, and a run of 14- and 15-story buildings is rising on Fourth Avenue and the streets around Third Avenue, Douglass Street and Butler Street.
The Gowanus Neighborhood Plan made that possible. It opened the blocks around the canal to housing, and the result is one of the busiest building neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Old industrial buildings are coming down to make room, and some are being built on top of instead of replaced.
Next door in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook the work is smaller but steady: brownstone renovations, new mechanical systems, storefronts, and pipe scaffolds and sidewalk sheds on blocks like Baltic, Union and Bergen Streets.
Where scissor lifts come in
Once a building like these is closed in, the work moves inside, and almost all of it happens between the floor and a 9- to 12-foot ceiling. Sprinkler mains, ductwork, electrical conduit, ceiling grid, drywall, lighting and paint all go in overhead, floor after floor. On a 14-story building, that is a lot of ceiling.
A scissor lift is the right tool for that work. It goes straight up on a railed platform big enough for a mechanic, the tools and a box of fittings, and it drives itself to the next bay. That is faster and safer than moving ladders or a rolling scaffold around every room. Our electric slab lifts are quiet, leave no fumes inside and run on finished concrete:
- 19-foot Genie GS-1930. Fits through a standard door and in most freight elevators; covers apartment ceilings with room to spare.
- 26- and 32-foot lifts. For lobbies, retail spaces at street level and parking floors.
- 40-foot GS-4047. Double-height lobbies, loading docks and amenity floors.
- Rough-terrain models, 43 and 53 feet. For outside work on the lot before the slab is poured or the sidewalk is finished.
What we rent for this work
See all our scissor lifts · No online checkout: call for availability and a quote.
Picking the right size
Working height is about 6 feet more than the platform height. For 9- to 10-foot apartment ceilings, a 19-foot lift is plenty and fits through a standard 36-inch door. Lobbies, retail spaces and parking levels with 14- to 20-foot ceilings call for the 26- or 32-foot units. Atriums, loading docks and warehouse bays go to the 40-foot slab lift, and if the lift has to work outside on dirt, gravel or a muddy lot, pick a rough-terrain model (43 or 53 feet).
Further reading
- Gowanus Neighborhood Plan (the 2021 rezoning)NYC Dept. of City Planning
- OSHA fact sheet: aerial liftsOSHA
- What size scissor lift do I need?American Rentals
- Slab vs. rough-terrain scissor liftsAmerican Rentals
- Boom lift vs. scissor liftAmerican Rentals
Questions we hear from Gowanus crews
Which scissor lift fits in a Gowanus apartment building?
For apartment floors with 9- to 10-foot ceilings, the 19-foot Genie GS-1930 is the usual pick. It is 30 inches wide, rolls through a standard doorway and fits most freight elevators. Check your elevator’s capacity and inside size first.
Will a scissor lift fit through a doorway or in an elevator?
Our Genie GS-1930 is 30 inches wide and the narrow GS-3232 is 32 inches wide, so both roll through a standard 36-inch door. Check your elevator capacity and inside dimensions against the spec sheet before you book, and tell us when you call so we send the right unit.
Does my crew need training to run one?
Yes. OSHA expects anyone running an aerial lift to be trained on it, and the ANSI A92 standards spell out operator training and familiarization. We walk your crew through the controls at pickup or delivery.
Do you deliver to Gowanus?
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 Gowanus · Scissor lift guide