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 years later at the age of 89. Muir was sentenced to one to three years in prison.
Muir, 66, of Long Island, was also previously fined $7,200 for violating city asbestos-safety laws by declaring another building asbestos free when it wasn’t, the councilwoman noted.
“It is unacceptable for any work to proceed without a proper asbestos inspection having been completed by a reputable inspector,” wrote Zhuang.
“Furthermore, in light of the evidence and repeated infractions, Mr. Muir should be investigated for additional fraudulent activity and stripped of his license so that no future properties run the risk of creating devastating health impacts on residents,” added Zhuang, who was arrested during a July 2024 protest at the site for allegedly biting a deputy NYPD chief during a scream-filled clash with cops.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave the go-ahead for construction in late March as part of his plan to increase shelter space citywide, but the DEP visited the site on April 9 at the request of community members and issued a stop work order after determining a proper asbestos inspection was never done.
The 86th Street Community Alliance – a neighborhood group of predominantly Asian-Americans who have protested by banging drums outside the shelter site since ex-Mayor Eric Adams announced the project in November 2023 – is demanding a “third-party” inspect the site for asbestos. The group says it will pay for the work.
Muir — a certified asbestos inspector since 1995 whose license to work in NYC is currently suspended — could not be reached for comment.
The DEP said it tested the site’s roofing on April 10 “out of an abundance of caution” and found “no presence of asbestos.”
Its inspectors have visited the site multiple other times over the past two years and never spotted any “disturbed asbestos,” said agency spokesperson Neja Stewart, without clarifying.
“We take the safety of the community seriously, and in the case that asbestos is detected in the areas proposed to be disturbed, the developer will be required to perform remediation,” said Stewart.
Muir’s asbestos inspection license was first suspended by the city in 2024 because officials had questions about his record keeping. His re-applied for certification after his suspension was lifted but wasn’t approved by the DEP until May 9, 2025 — over a month after he conducted his inspection at the Bensonhurst site.
The DEP said it suspended his license again on March 4 after fielding complaints that he was conducting inspections without approval.
He is slated to have a hearing May 6 where his license could be revoked.
The stop work order will remain in place at the site until a certified asbestos investigator completes their review, according to the DEP.
The agency said it is in contact with the project’s developer, the Sandhu Group, which agreed to use a different company for the asbestos inspection in light of Muir’s legal woes.
