Cooling tower at Harlem Hospital among 12 sites tied to NYC Legionnaires' disease outbreak that's killed 4
The city's Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic, the NYC Economic Development Corporation and CUNY's Marshak Science Building also all had cooling towers that needed to be scrubbed clean, officials said at a press conference.
Overall, 10 sites that potentially exposed people to Legionnaires' disease were listed by officials after they initially refused to pinpoint where the towers were located.
Officials spoke at a Thursday press conference about the outbreak.
PIX11
Instead, the health department offered five zip codes in central Harlem — 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037, 10039 – that were at the center of the cluster, as officials stressed the disease was airborne and could reach people even outside of the directly affected buildings.
'We did not want people to think, well, I don't live there, I don't have to worry,' said Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse Thursday.
'That is the exact opposite response from what we wanted. What we wanted was for people in all five zip codes to be on high alert for developing any flu like symptoms and to immediately seek care.'
At least 99 cases have been confirmed, including 17 patients that have required hospitalization, since July 25. The four deaths is a jump from three that was reported by health officials last week.
Twelve cooling towers, including three on one building, have tested positive for the bacteria that fuels Legionnaires' disease with 11 of them already cleaned. One tower needs to be taken care of by Friday.
The 10 buildings with affected cooling towers, as listed by the DOH, are:
BRP Companies, Lafayette Development LLC, 2239 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd Manhattan, NY 10037
BVK, 215 W 125th St Manhattan, NY 10027
Commonwealth Local Development, 301 West 124th St, Manhattan, NY 10035
CUNY – City College Marshak Science Building, 181 Convent Ave, Manhattan, NY 10031
Harlem Center Condo, 317 Lenox Ave, Manhattan, NY 10030
NYC Economic Development Corporation, 40 West 137th St, Manhattan, NY 10037
NYC Health Department Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic, 2238 5th Ave, Manhattan, NY 10030
NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, 506 Lenox Ave, Manhattan, NY 10037
The New York Hotel Trades Council Harlem Health Center,133 Morningside Ave, Manhattan, NY 10027
Wharton Properties, 100 W 125th St Manhattan, NY 10027 (3 of 8 towers)
Air conditioning units fill the windows of an apartment building in the Harlem neighborhood amid a Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City, U.S., August 6, 2025.
REUTERS
Anyone in the affected area dealing with flu-like symptoms was encouraged to seek medical care as soon as possible.
'While the cluster has been contained, we're still urging New Yorkers who live or work in the affected areas to seek medical attention,' Mayor Eric Adams said.
It can take between 12 to 14 days from exposure to the droplets to start feeling sick.
People can catch Legionnaires' disease from bacterial droplets that come from water systems like cooling towers and are breathed in, though the disease isn't spread person-to-person.
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New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Harlem residents accuse NYC of shirking life-saving inspections amid deadly Legionnaires' disease outbreak: ‘Irresponsible'
The deadly Legionnaires' outbreak gripping Harlem has city officials in hot water — as locals accused them Friday of dropping the ball on life-saving inspections and needlessly slow-walking revealing exactly where the disease hit. Many outraged Harlem residents told The Post they only learned that they lived or worked in one of 10 buildings with cooling towers that tested positive for the insidious Legionnaires'-causing bacterium after the list was unveiled Thursday — weeks into the outbreak that has killed four people. 'Why weren't these cooling towers properly maintained? Who dropped the ball and why?' raged Nichole Ingram, who fell ill with Legionnaires' disease around July 24 after she attended a funeral service in 2239 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, one of the affected buildings. 4 The Department of Health confirms that four New Yorkers have died amidst the outbreak, along with 17 individuals still hospitalized with a total of 99 cases confirmed. Rob Jejenich / NY Post Design Ingram, 53, said her son Raymond, an asthmatic 35-year-old, was still hospitalized with the flu-like, respiratory illness in New York-Presbyterian Hospital after a stay in Harlem Hospital — one of several city-owned buildings with affected cooling towers. 'Why buildings in Harlem and not in lower Manhattan? People are losing their lives unnecessarily,' she said. The outbreak comes amid a drop in cooling tower inspections. Only roughly 1,200 cooling towers were inspected for Legionnaires' bacteria during the first six months of this year, compared to nearly 5,100 at the same point in 2017, data provided by the city Department of Health shows. Building owners by law are required to test for the disease-causing bacteria Legionella every 90 days to avoid outbreaks. Four New Yorkers have died in the current outbreak and 17 remain hospitalized out of 99 confirmed cases, DOH officials said Thursday. Officials that day also finally released — after weeks of only providing five ZIP codes — the addresses of the buildings with the 12 total cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella. All but one of the 10 buildings were either behind on the mandated testing or had cooling towers that weren't checked at all this year, according to Gothamist. 4 Nichole Ingram, 52, one of the individuals affected by the deadly Legionnaires' outbreak, told The Post, 'Why weren't these cooling towers properly maintained?' mentioning her son Raymond, 35, is still recovering in the hospital. Obtained by NY Post In addition to Harlem Hospital, the city-owned buildings with affected cooling towers were Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic, the NYC Economic Development Corporation and CUNY's Marshak Science Building, the DOH said. Health Commissioner Michelle Morse argued the city withheld the building addresses to help keep all New Yorkers vigilant, regardless of where they live. 'We did not want people to think, well, I don't live there, I don't have to worry,' she said. But New Yorkers who live and work in the buildings were horrified after the last-minute revelation — with some only hearing it from The Post on Friday. 'You're going to a hospital for a care and there's a possibility you're getting sick because of the lack of inspections?' asked Mariela L. 57, who was visiting a family member at Harlem Hospital. 'That's irresponsible on the city's part. To my knowledge, they did not inform the patients before the news broke. My family member found out from me and I found out from the news.' A manager at GNC Live Well in 215 West 125th Street, an affected building also with medical offices and a bank, said he didn't know until Friday. 'Nobody from the building told us anything,' he said. 'We're the last to find out. We find out when the damage is done, the ship is sinking.' 4 The Gothamist reported that 10 of the buildings where the center of the outbreak has occurred were either behind on the mandated testing or had cooling towers that weren't checked yet this year. Google Earth Legionnaires' bacteria is found in freshwater and can grow in water systems such as those used for air conditioning large buildings, especially during warmer weather. Mist released by the cooling towers can send the bacteria into the air, and if inhaled, it can cause Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia. The last wave of Legionnaires' this rampant hit the Big Apple a decade ago — and prompted the cooling tower inspection law. In summer 2015, toxic cooling towers at the Opera House Hotel infected more than 100 and killed 12 in the South Bronx, following a smaller outbreak in Co-op City earlier that year. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters But despite the legislation requiring regular testing, another widespread outbreak hit Washington Heights in upper Manhattan in 2018, killing one person and sickening 60 others. Councilwoman Julie Menin (D-Manhattan), who sits on the body's health committee, promised a 'hard-hitting hearing' in September over the health department's failures in the most recent outbreak. 'I think it's unconscionable that we have a department of health with a staffing vacancy rate hovering around 9%,' she said. 'And that the city wouldn't even initially disclose the locations of the cooling towers that tested positive even though multiple locations — four of them in fact — were city owned buildings. We clearly needed faster and more transparent government response to legionnaires that keeps New York are safe.' 4 The NYC Health Department Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic was among the sites linked to the outbreak. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post State Sen. Cordell Cleare (D-Manhattan) questioned why the outbreak was concentrated in Harlem. 'Surely, the Legionella bacteria do not have a special affiliation with our neighborhood?' she said. 'We question why it only seems to be in this area. We do not want to be the canaries in the coal mine.' Ingram's lawyer, Jory Lange, is representing 31 patients in the latest Legionnaires' outbreak and will likely be filing a lawsuit when the actual source of the outbreak is identified. Lange said simple maintenance, akin to using chlorine to clean a pool, is all that's needed to keep Legionnaires' at bay. 'A Legionnaires' outbreak should not be happening in 2025. We're seeing this every summer in New York,' he said. 'People are breaking the law.' — Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts, Matthew Fischetti, Vaughn Golden and Craig McCarthy
The Hill
12 hours ago
- The Hill
4 dead as Legionnaires' disease continues to spread in NYC
(WPIX) – A fourth person has died amid an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Harlem, health officials in New York City confirmed. The outbreak had sickened at least 99 people as of Thursday, 17 of whom were hospitalized, officials said. Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and spread through building water systems. The city's outbreak has been linked to cooling towers, which use water and a fan to cool buildings. Health officials disclosed Thursday that 12 cooling towers within Harlem buildings tested positive for the bacteria. Those affected include Harlem Hospital, a city health clinic, a popular retail center on 125th Street, a CUNY college science building and the Harlem condo center on Lenox Avenue. Health officials said all cooling towers in those areas have been cleaned. Nichole Ingram, who was among the first to contract the disease in late July, said she is still suffering from symptoms and that her 35-year-old son is still hospitalized after almost dying from it. 'He did not flatline, but he came very close to it,' she said. 'They had to intubate him; he had a life-saving machine.' People usually develop symptoms of Legionnaires' disease around two to 14 days after being exposed. People often get the disease by inhaling mist from contaminated water, but it is not spread from person to person. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches and coughing. Dr. Michelle Morse, the city's acting health commissioner, said new cases in the Central Harlem outbreak have begun to decline 'which indicates that the sources of the bacteria have been contained.' Anyone living in Central Harlem who has these symptoms is encouraged to call a doctor immediately.
21 hours ago
4th person dies after a Legionnaires' disease outbreak sickens dozens in New York
NEW YORK -- A fourth person has died in connection with a Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City, health officials disclosed Thursday as they revealed that some cooling towers that tested positive for the bacteria are in city-run buildings. The outbreak in Central Harlem has sickened dozens since it began in late July. Seventeen people were hospitalized as of Thursday, according to the health department. The bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease had been discovered in 12 cooling towers on 10 buildings, including a city-run hospital and sexual health clinic, health officials said. Remediation efforts have been completed on 11 of the cooling towers, with the final tower's remediation required to be completed Friday. Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and spread through building water systems. The city's outbreak has been linked to cooling towers, which use water and a fan to cool buildings. People usually develop symptoms — a cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath — between two days to two weeks after exposure to the bacteria, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Michelle Morse, the city's acting health commissioner, said new cases in the Central Harlem outbreak have begun to decline 'which indicates that the sources of the bacteria have been contained.' She urged people who live or work in the area to contact a health care provider if they develop flu-like symptoms.
