Ex-con inspector conducted fake asbestos inspection to speed up Bensonhurst homeless shelter plan: NYC pol
A shady asbestos inspector who served prison time for conning a famed jazz great out of $500,000 allegedly never even showed up to the site of a highly contested Brooklyn homeless shelter being pushed by the Mamdani administration before greenlighting the project for construction.Noel Muir claimed he inspected the site of the planned 150-bed men’s shelter in Bensonhurst in April 2025, before proclaiming it asbestos-free, city records show.The approval briefly paved the way for construction to begin on the shelter, which has been marred by delays for more than two-and-a-half years and sparked near-daily protests — including one resulting in a local councilwoman being arrested for allegedly biting a cop.But 16 residents and business leaders insist in court papers that Muir lied about inspecting the site, which is set to open in late 2027.They were outside the one-story, former medical building at the corner of 25th Avenue and 86th Street at the same time Muir said he conducted the inspection — from 9:30 am to noon on April 4, 2025 — and “did not observe” anyone entering or exiting the building, affidavits filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court and reviewed by The Post claimed.The city is also investigating whether Muir conducted the inspection with a suspended license.“Our community is demanding an investigation into procedural irregularities and fraudulent behavior in the examination of the property at 2501 86th Street, Brooklyn, NY for asbestos,” Councilwoman Susan Zhuang (D-Brooklyn) wrote in an April 15 letter to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Garcia.Muir lied about the asbestos testing to the city Buildings Department in a bid to speed up the project — putting the community at risk for airborne contamination, Zhuang and other critics alleged.Zhuang also noted Muir’s shady background, which includes him pleading guilty in 2016 in Brooklyn Supreme Court to swindling Cecil Taylor, a famed pianist and composer who died two yea...