UES Woman Says Building Negligence Left Her Sick from Mold for Months

An Upper East Side woman is furious after she says she became sick after mold growth from a leak in her building left her struggling with health issues for several months while the building management dragged its feet on remediation efforts.

Nadine Meyers told Our Town she was one of eight residents who suffered water damage from a shower leak in an apartment above them in The Newbury co-op apartment building at 250 E. 87th St. in early April. The water flooded the master bedroom and the adjacent bathroom of her unit and damaged the ceiling, soaked the carpeting, and rusted a light fixture.

The 75-year-old retired schoolteacher said she began feeling ill “right away” after the flood. “I thought it was from touching and trying to dry the carpeting,” she said. She reported chest pain and gastrointestinal issues in the weeks that followed, prompting her to start wearing a mask indoors and sleep in another room.

On April 7, three days after the incident, Meyers said she met with the building’s superintendent, Eddie Gilic, and a handyman. They inspected the water damage in her bathroom, which they attributed to a leak from the shower in an apartment above hers. Meyers says Gilic acknowledged that he had personally entered that unit and shut off the water. During the visit, Gilic expressed sympathy for the upstairs neighbor who caused the leak. Meyers says this made her feel that the building was not prioritizing her interests. Soon after, she hired a lawyer.

Over the following weeks, Meyers says her symptoms persisted. On the advice of both her cardiologist and attorney, she formally requested a mold test from building management.

At his next visit in mid-April, the superintendent, she said, dismissed the idea, touching the ceiling with his hand and saying it was not necessary. “Why was he the one deciding whether a mold test should happen?” Meyers said, questioning whether he had any ability to determine if the ceiling had mold just by touch. “He used his bare hand to touch the ceiling,” she said. “Adults use water meters.” Gilic did not respond to requests for comment from Our Town.

The building offered to open the ceiling and scrape and plaster it. She declined, fearing that would only further spread mold in the air and worsen her symptoms.

Meyers told Our Town that the only way she was able to finally get a mold test was by threatening to sue the building if they did not do it.

On June 20, more than two months after the initial flooding, Meyers says the building manager, Yury Forde, finally sent someone to conduct the test in her unit.

Meyers says she was told by the building’s co-op board president that no other residents had ever reported mold issues. According to her, he suggested that she should not have declined the building’s offer to open up the ceiling and because leaving it made the problem worse. An hour after that exchange, she says the results came back confirming the presence of mold across six square feet of her ceiling. She says the board president then told her the building would handle remediation.

After that point, Meyers said the process moved fairly quickly. She took the lawyer off retainer. He decided not to charge her, and a remediation company removed the mold from the ceiling.

But Meyers says she still feels upset. “It’s like I became a prisoner in my own home,” she said. She described how she could not sleep in her bedroom, opted instead to sleep on a sofa in the living room, and began to wear a mask when she entered the room to go into her closet. “You have to be your own advocate.”

“They made a huge mistake, and I almost got the death penalty,” she said. “The worst part was being sick for months and losing hope.”

Meyers is also upset because she says it feels as if the building still will not take responsibility. She told Our Town that when she spoke to the superintendent and asked for an apology, he told her to talk to his boss. When she asked the building manager for an apology, she says he responded that the mold was probably already in her ceiling from years ago. Forde also did not respond to requests for comment.

But the process still isn’t over. “The big upcoming bill will be for the carpeting after it is examined,” Meyers said. “I have no idea if the floor underneath was compromised.” When asked if she was going to pursue further legal action, Meyers responded that “Money doesn’t give me back three months of lousy health.” She added, “Health is wealth. If a leak smells funny and makes you sick, ask for a mold test.”