The New York City Department of Buildings mandates that property owners conduct exterior maintenance on their buildings every five years, if it is deemed necessary. When such refurbishment is warranted, the exterior construction is categorized as an MCI, or “major capital improvement,” namely an upgrade that affects everyone in the building. By law, the cost of the improvement can be absorbed by the residents in the form of monthly rent increases, which can total upwards of $800 a month. But for Pasricha, the exterior work is more than a potential rent hike. The debris from the construction is a toxic hazard that is affecting his health.
Grainy, dark dust started settling inside Pasricha’s apartment, when exterior brick repairs began outside his windows in June. His air purifier turned red, and his phone alerted him to dangerous levels of particulate matter. After an independent company, Ed Olmsted Environmental Services, tested the air quality in the apartment, the results showed that the dust on the windowsill contained upwards of 35% crystalline silica, a carcinogen directly linked to lung cancer and other respiratory irritants.
“ They were literally drilling right next to my AC unit and they had no covers,” said Pasricha, adding that the work carried on all summer, Monday to Friday. Other tenants in his building also had dust inside their apartments. Some erected plastic tarps, which they taped over large swaths of their apartment to stop the insurgence of debris.
Stuyvesant Town has had significant management changes in recent years. Pasricha moved into his rent-stabilized apartment in 2019, four years after Blackstone bought out Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in a $5.3 billion deal. In 2020, a new landlord started managing the properties in Stuyvesant Town under the company Beam Living.
“Once the work started, we got all sorts of calls and emails about how awful the dust was coming in,” said Susan Steinberg, president of the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Tenant’s Association.
Steinberg, like Pasricha, is worried about the dust inhalation. For months, tenants have been detailing smoke alarms going off, and black dust covering their AC filters and floors.
Harvey Lippman, who has lived in Peter Cooper Village since 1978, didn’t know the black dust on his windows, between April and May, might have been toxic. He just vacuumed it away, dismissing the dust, noise and constant, rocking vibrations as a horrible yet ultimately non-dangerous inconvenience.
“I think it’s a great place to live,” said Lippman about StuyTown. “I realize the difficulties in managing 13,000 units, but clearly this project could have been clearly better managed, and I think that they shortchanged the safety aspect of the project.”
The Department of Buildings issued a violation to Niche Waterproofing, the facade work company, in July after finding excessive debris and a persistent failure to enact protections for tenants. The hearing date, which was supposed to be in late September, was pushed back to April 2026.
The exterior work is slowing down outside Pasricha’s apartment, but he still prefers to stay away from the construction. He sued BPP PCV Owner, the Blackstone subsidiary, along with Stuytown Property Services in August over the continued presence of the dust and their inaction.
Less than a week after Pasricha filed his lawsuit, the Department of Buildings inspected StuyTown again and found environmental hazards. Pasricha’s lawsuit, which was supposed to be heard on September 24, was postponed to October 22.
Beam Living refused to provide a formal comment but stated that city regulations have been followed.
“If tenants don’t complain, then they just go ahead and do it,” said Pasricha about management. “ It hasn’t been easy because a lot of people basically fear that the landlord will retaliate, so they don’t want to get involved.”