A shady asbestos inspector who served jail time for conning a famed jazz nice out of $500,000 allegedly by no means even confirmed as much as the location of a extremely contested Brooklyn homeless shelter being pushed by the Mamdani administration earlier than greenlighting the mission for development.
Noel Muir claimed he inspected the location of the deliberate 150-bed males’s shelter in Bensonhurst in April 2025, earlier than proclaiming it asbestos-free, metropolis data present.
The approval briefly paved the way in which for development to start on the shelter, which has been marred by delays for greater than two-and-a-half years and sparked near-daily protests — together with one leading to a neighborhood councilwoman being arrested for allegedly biting a cop.
However 16 residents and enterprise leaders insist in courtroom papers that Muir lied about inspecting the location, which is about to open in late 2027.
They have been exterior the one-story, former medical constructing on the nook of twenty fifth Avenue and 86th Avenue on the similar time Muir stated he performed the inspection — from 9:30 am to midday on April 4, 2025 — and “didn’t observe” anybody getting into or exiting the constructing, affidavits filed in Brooklyn Supreme Courtroom and reviewed by The Publish claimed.
Town can be investigating whether or not Muir performed the inspection with a suspended license.
“Our neighborhood is demanding an investigation into procedural irregularities and fraudulent habits within the examination of the property at 2501 86th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY for asbestos,” Councilwoman Susan Zhuang (D-Brooklyn) wrote in an April 15 letter to Division of Environmental Safety Commissioner Lisa Garcia.
Muir lied concerning the asbestos testing to the town Buildings Division in a bid to hurry up the mission — placing the neighborhood in danger for airborne contamination, Zhuang and different critics alleged.
Zhuang additionally famous Muir’s shady background, which incorporates him pleading responsible in 2016 in Brooklyn Supreme Courtroom to swindling Cecil Taylor, a famed pianist and composer who died two years later on the age of 89. Muir was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in jail.
Muir, 66, of Lengthy Island, was additionally beforehand fined $7,200 for violating metropolis asbestos-safety legal guidelines by declaring one other constructing asbestos-free when it wasn’t, the councilwoman famous.
“It’s unacceptable for any work to proceed and not using a correct asbestos inspection having been accomplished by a good inspector,” wrote Zhuang.
“Moreover, in mild of the proof and repeated infractions, Mr. Muir needs to be investigated for added fraudulent exercise and stripped of his license in order that no future properties run the chance of making devastating well being impacts on residents,” added Zhuang, who was arrested throughout a July 2024 protest on the website for allegedly biting a deputy NYPD chief throughout a scream-filled conflict with cops.
The costs towards Zhuang have been later dropped.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave the go-ahead for development in late March as a part of his plan to extend shelter area citywide, however the DEP visited the location on April 9 on the request of neighborhood members and issued a cease work order after figuring out a correct asbestos inspection was by no means achieved.
The 86th Avenue Group Alliance – a neighborhood group of predominantly Asian-People who’ve protested by banging drums exterior the shelter website since ex-Mayor Eric Adams introduced the mission in November 2023 – is demanding a “third-party” examine the location for asbestos. The group says it can pay for the work.
Muir — a licensed asbestos inspector since 1995 whose license to work in NYC is at the moment suspended — couldn’t be reached for remark.
The DEP stated it examined the location’s roofing on April 10 “out of an abundance of warning” and located “no presence of asbestos.”
Its inspectors have visited the location a number of different instances over the previous two years and by no means noticed any “disturbed asbestos,” stated company spokesperson Neja Stewart, with out clarifying.
“We take the protection of the neighborhood severely, and within the case that asbestos is detected within the areas proposed to be disturbed, the developer will probably be required to carry out remediation,” stated Stewart.
Muir’s asbestos inspection license was first suspended by the town in 2024 as a result of officers had questions on his document retaining. His re-applied for certification after his suspension was lifted however wasn’t accredited by the DEP till Could 9, 2025 — over a month after he performed his inspection on the Bensonhurst website.
The DEP stated it suspended his license once more on March 4 after fielding complaints that he was conducting inspections with out approval.
He’s slated to have a listening to Could 6 the place his license could possibly be revoked.
The cease work order will stay in place on the website till a licensed asbestos investigator completes their assessment, in response to the DEP.
The company stated it’s in touch with the mission’s developer, the Sandhu Group, which agreed to make use of a unique firm for the asbestos inspection in mild of Muir’s authorized woes.
