Updated October 21, 2026 For decades, New Yorkers breathed in dangers they couldn't see. Maybe you handled pipe insulation at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, sanded joint compound while renovating pre-war apartments on the Upper West Side, or dusted on talcum powder every morning without a second thought. Then, 30 or 40 years later, a doctor says the word no one wants to hear: mesothelioma. In 2022, the New York Court of Appeals raised the bar for proving these cases. Its decision in