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The Hill
2 days ago
- Health
- 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.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Cooling tower at Harlem Hospital among 12 sites tied to NYC Legionnaires' disease outbreak that's killed 4
A cooling tower at Harlem Hospital was among 12 sites tied to the city's Legionnaires' disease outbreak that's now killed four people and sickened nearly 100, Department of Health officials said Thursday. 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.
Fox News
08-08-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Chicago's budget shortfall puts spotlight on Mamdani's 'socialism' agenda for New York City
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson warns that finances in the nation's third most populous city have "reached a point of no return." The mayor said this week that the city will need to take steps to deal with looming budget shortfalls and that key systems that Chicago provides, including education, housing, health care and transportation, are "woefully underfunded." Eight-hundred miles to the east, there are concerns in the nation's most populous city that if democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani wins the election in November as New York City's next mayor, the city could be headed for a fiscal abyss similar to the crisis half a century ago, when it came close to bankruptcy. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the 2025 race for New York City's Democratic Party mayor nomination and who is running for re-election as an independent, struck a deal with the city council on a roughly $116 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. "There are no perfect budgets. But we have come a long way, and this one gets pretty close," City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a press conference announcing the deal in late June. But the 33-year-old Mamdani, who is the polling frontrunner over Adams, former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and two other contenders in November's general election, is running on an expensive platform to tackle affordability and inequality in one of the nation's most expensive cities. Mamdani grabbed national attention in late June after topping Cuomo and nine other candidates in the Democratic Party primary, as he took a big step towards becoming the first Muslim and first millennial mayor. Mamdani, a Ugandan-born state assemblyman from the New York City borough of Queens, is proposing to eliminate fares to ride New York City's vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) "tuition-free," freezing rents on municipal housing, offering "free childcare" for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. There are concerns that the significant spending increases to pay for Mamdani's proposals, along with the possibility of revenue shortfalls, could put a strain on New York City's budget. And at the center of Mamdani's proposals to pay for his pricey plans is a "millionaire's tax," which critics say will spur ultra-wealthy New York City residents to flee. Mamdani's agenda has given Republicans plenty of fodder to use to go on offense, as they spotlight his "socialist" policies and try to anchor him to Democrats facing challenging re-elections next year. President Donald Trump has gone further, accusing Mamdani of being a "communist." And Mamdani's rivals in November's mayoral election are also taking aim at him. Adams has said Mamdani is making "false promises" that will hurt low-income New Yorkers. And the mayor argues that Mamdani's proposal to set up government-run supermarkets will "devastate the local bodegas and local stores." Cuomo, as he proposed his own plan to address affordability in New York City, said on Thursday that Mandani is "proposing a theory of socialism that has never worked anywhere." "What is the best answer to affordability? It is business development. It is opportunity. It is jobs. It is economic growth. It is not anti-business socialism," Cuomo said as he asked and answered his own question. Firing back, Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec claimed that "trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York's affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire — he created this crisis." "Trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York's affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire — he created this crisis," Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.
Fox News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mamdani's government-run grocery stores and other policies are all 'pure communist ideology' says CUNY law professor
CUNY professor of law Jeffrey Lax discusses his concerns over Zohran Mamdani's policies and more on 'The Will Cain Show.'
The Hill
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Stefanik's latest battle doesn't fight antisemitism; it attacks due process
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) became the scourge of university leaders on Dec. 5, 2023, when she baited the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT into seemingly tolerating calls for 'genocide of the Jews.' Their tepid responses cost two of them their jobs. At subsequent hearings of the House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee, Stefanik scorched other university presidents for giving equivocal answers about campus antisemitism. Stefanik's latest target has been a legal clinic at the City University of New York School of Law, called CUNY CLEAR, an acronym for Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility. At a hearing last week, Stefanik berated CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez for CLEAR's representation of Mahmoud Khalil, whom she called 'the chief pro-Hamas agitator that led to the antisemitic encampments at Columbia.' Whatever the merits of Stefanik's other accusations, she is absolutely wrong about CUNY CLEAR. Representation of a controversial client is in the best tradition of legal education. Khalil was a leader of the pro-Palestinian occupation at Columbia, advancing inflammatory claims and demands. He was also a lawful permanent resident — a green card holder — married to an American citizen. Last March, Khalil was arrested by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Although he was not charged with a crime, the Department of State asserted that Khalil's green card had been revoked under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, because his pro-Palestinian advocacy posed serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the U.S. Khalil was whisked to a detention facility in central Louisiana. He was held for 104 days until his release was ordered by a federal judge. He is still facing deportation. Outraged that CUNY CLEAR had played a key role in Khalil's representation, Stefanik called upon Rodriguez to fire the CUNY professor who coordinated the defense. Rodriguez was non-committal, promising only to investigate the situation. That was the tactful response, but he missed a teachable moment. The mission of CUNY CLEAR is to support clients and communities 'targeted by local, state, or federal government agencies under the guise of national security and counterterrorism.' Although that may never be acceptable to Stefanik, Rodriguez should have explained that representing unpopular clients is what lawyers are supposed to do, and what law students should be taught to do. CLEAR helped return Khalil from detention in Louisiana to his family, including a newborn son, in New York. That also allowed him greater access to his attorneys, which is essential if he is to have any chance of challenging his deportation. I agree with almost nothing Khalil stands for, but I believe strongly in due process and fair trials. There is no right to appointed counsel in immigration cases, so Khalil's representation could only come from organizations such as the ACLU and CLEAR. In my years as a lawyer in Northwestern's Bluhm Legal Clinic, from 1975 to 1987, I represented plenty of unpopular or outcast clients. Some were obscure, including a lesbian mother seeking to regain custody of her daughter from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (which was hardly a foregone conclusion in those days). Others were notorious, such as the Ukrainian parents who wanted to take their 12-year-old son back to what was then the Soviet Union. I also represented Jews for Jesus who had been arrested picketing American Nazi Party headquarters, and Jewish Defense League members for the same thing. I represented Jewish leftists who had been prevented by a police cordon from protesting at a Nazi rally in a Chicago park. I worked with the Illinois ACLU during the Nazis-in-Skokie controversy. There were surely Northwestern trustees, and local politicians, who were unhappy with some aspects of my client list, which included accused gang members and assorted criminal defendants, along with members of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Nobody ever told me that representation should be withheld due to unpopular associations or opinions. There is indeed antisemitism at CUNY, and throughout academia, which I have documented. The representation of Khalil is in an entirely separate category. It is grist for a grandstander like Stefanik, but it is not an example of antisemitism. Among my most rewarding experiences as a clinic lawyer was obtaining the dismissal of charges against a 12 year-old girl accused of murdering her own baby. In 1976, I could not convince prosecutors to treat my client as an abused child herself, rather than a criminal. The only evidence against her was a confession, extracted by police, which my students and I succeeded in suppressing as involuntary. Decades later, I told the story in class. 'So you got her off,' remarked a student. 'No, we got her justice,' I explained. That is what legal clinics do.
