The Greasons’ $2 million, two-bedroom apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side still has its Christmas ornaments up—from December 2014. Edward and Marisa Greason had to flee their apartment after their upstairs neighbor’s renovation covered their apartment in asbestos and lead-paint dust, according to The New York Post.
In the course of tearing down walls and ripping up floors in Mary Cunningham’s apartment above the Greasons, workmen exposed asbestos-wrapped pipes and lead paint in the flooring, causing poisonous dust to fall down into the Greasons’ kitchen and bathrooms.
Edward Greason, an attorney himself, ordered scientific tests of the dust particles coming through the air vents and cracks caused by Cunningham’s apartment renovation. The tests revealed the presence of asbestos as well as levels of lead 80 times the federal allowable limit.
The Greasons have been couch-surfing for over two years. They’ve asked a judge to force Cunningham, the co-op board, architect Jim Thomas, and the construction company involved in the renovation (Global Group Industries Corp.) to pay for an environmental clean-up. They also intend to seek unspecified damages for having to leave their home.