Electrician says i don’t need a permit for replacing electric panel NYC

Hello everyone! Looking for some knowledge on my situation, thanks in advance.

I own a one family in NYC and i have been having issues with my electric shutting off when using an ac on the second floor. I found a verified electrician on Angies list with great reviews, 5.0 star rated and about 250 reviews. He said that my panel is out dated and overloaded, it is 90 amps and has 2 circuit breakers in some on the slots. He recommended that I replace it and run a wire to the second floor to add more amps. When i asked him about permits he said that i don’t need a permit since it is considered a “home improvement” and not an upgrade of the panel to 200amps for example. It seems shady and i don’t wanna run into issues in the future.

What do you think? Does this need a permit or?