Probably for the 225 pounds of gunpowder.
Hope He wasn’t a smoker.
The powder was the only part I found of concern. That's a lot of powder in a 1 bedroom apartment. The gun shops where I shopped in San Diego were required to keep the powder in a wood box with wheels that could be quickly removed from the building in case of a fire. The box was painted red and easy to spot.
I have (3) 8 lb bottles of powder (different powders) and 1 lb bottles of the same powder as "working stock". When the 1 lb runs low, I refill from the 8 lb. When reloading, only ONE bottle of powder is on the bench to avoid errors using the wrong powder or weight.
The breathless hyperbole of the article is par for the pantywaist press in New York.
That is the only item that remotely breaks any law. Question is ... what is the legal limit in NY. Its like 5 lbs in Maryland with storage container requirements.