A hard-partying lighting designer was found dead in his luxury Manhattan apartment wearing a knee-length black latex suit and a gas mask and handcuffed from behind, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.
Alejandro Bulaevsky, 26, who graduated from Parsons The New School for Design and worked on several glitzy New York and Las Vegas projects, was found face down on the floor of his Financial District studio apartment at 90 West St. shortly before 5:30 p.m. Monday, cops said.
Investigators said there were no signs of forced entry, and say Bulaevsky may have been alone. Nothing had been stolen, and there were no obvious signs of trauma. They found several sadomasochistic contraptions and several vials of what was believed to be anabolic steroids at the scene, according to sources.
Police also found a large safe in apartment. They opened it at the 1st Precinct and found $29,000 in neatly wrapped $100 bills.
Bulaevsky’s boyfriend in England couldn’t reach him Monday, so a brother contacted the building superintendent, officials said. The super called police, who made the grisly find.
An autopsy was performed yesterday, but officials said a cause of death will have to wait for toxicology results. Police do not believe it was a homicide, according to a source.
Bulaevsky was last seen on video surveillance entering the lobby of his building at 8 p.m. Sunday, sources said. He did not arrive at work Monday.
Neighbors and a former co-worker described Bulaevsky as a party guy with lots of energy.
He worked with top architects and designers on a range of projects.
His lighting designs are featured at the Andaz Hotel on Fifth Avenue, at the Indian restaurant Pranna on Madison Avenue and in suites at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“He was an extremely bright, very focused and very interesting individual,” said Derek Porter, director of Parsons’ lighting-design program. “He was very much a high-spirited person with good energy.”
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger