Homes and buildings built before 1978 are more likely to have lead based paint. When exposed, lead paint causes severe major health ailments for children + adults.
The only way to prevent these life threatening ailments from lead dust from occurring is lead abatement, which permanently removes lead based paint from the property.
Check out the EPA approved list of New York State Certified Lead Abatement Firms here: bit.ly/EPALeadAbatement