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Data analysis by Kae Petrin
New York City health officials are looking at “around 20” cooling towers in the South Bronx after the Health Department confirmed five cases of Legionnaires’ disease, including one death. The pneumonia-like illness can prove fatal for older people and those with underlying health issues.
Officials in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday night they are investigating what they described as a “likely community cluster” of Legionnaires’ disease cases in the Bronx neighborhoods of Melrose and Morrisania, in ZIP codes 10451 and 10456.
In those two ZIP codes, building owners have registered 27 cooling towers, as required by law, according to a Healthbeat analysis of city data. Twenty-five of the 27 cooling tower records indicate that the city has received testing samples, mostly from August and September. There’s no indication that the owners of the remaining two cooling towers have submitted any samples.
Officials did not answer questions about whether building owners have been fined for testing violations.
The city data does not indicate whether the cooling towers tested positive or negative for Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease. The same data includes a note saying “decommissioned cooling towers” are excluded from the dataset. City health officials did not say when results would be available or clarify which towers were excluded from the dataset.
The Health Department said Friday that all cooling towers in the affected area have been sampled and testing is underway. Officials said they will inspect every tower for compliance with local laws and order the full cleaning and disinfection of any tower with an initial positive screening test.
The new cases come after an Upper East Side outbreak this summer killed 11 people and sickened 94 others, making it one of New York City’s deadliest Legionnaires’ outbreaks in recent years. The Bronx cases are raising fresh questions about whether city legislation that took effect May 8 is enough to prevent future outbreaks of Legionnaires’. The law increased testing requirements for building owners with cooling towers and imposed steeper fines for violations, but local officials have grown frustrated that cases continue despite the new requirements meant to curb them.
“It’s alarming to see this outbreak occur despite the high compliance rate that exists in these ZIP codes,” Council Member Justin E. Sanchez said in a statement. Sanchez’s district includes the Melrose and Morrisania neighborhoods.
“It is still very early but these statistics raise a lot of flags that need to be addressed. Someone lost their life and four others are fighting for theirs; these folks and every New Yorker deserve a system with as few cracks as possible and stronger policies that prevent future outbreaks and deaths.”
Sanchez joined City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman in issuing a separate statement Thursday on X saying they were in touch with the Health Department and “closely monitoring their response, including the testing of cooling towers throughout the affected area.”
“This is the beginning of our investigation, and we are committed to acting quickly and transparently,” Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said during a Thursday night virtual press conference.
Last week, the City Council convened an oversight hearing to discuss eight proposed bills focused on testing requirements, enforcement, communication strategy, and transparency, where Martin fielded questions. The Mamdani administration and the Health Department announced that they would introduce their own measures, including efforts to find unregistered cooling towers that might host Legionella.
Legionnaires’ outbreaks are not new in the city. Between 200 and 800 cases are reported each year in New York state, including New York City, according to the New York State Department of Health. An outbreak last year in Central Harlem killed at least seven people and sickened more than 100 others, many of whom required hospitalization.
City officials said they fear outbreaks will become more frequent as summers become hotter and longer and residents rely more on air conditioning to keep cool. Cooling towers on top of buildings can provide ideal breeding grounds for the Legionella bacterium, which is spread through contaminated droplets falling onto the streets below.
There is no vaccine to prevent Legionnaires’ disease.
There are 20 cooling towers registered in the ZIP code 10451, home to Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and seven in 10456, according to city data.
Community health workers were expected to visit the Bronx neighborhoods Friday, health officials said, and Martin posted photos of himself and staff members on X passing out flyers in the South Bronx. But Bronx health advocate and resident Angel Garcia said by phone that he hadn’t seen anyone who appeared to be from the Health Department in Melrose.
“They should send out somebody from the Department of Health, or one of their contractor organizations, to just hand out stuff to people and let them know what’s going on,” said Garcia, a coordinator for the Melrose Environmental Awareness Committee. “It’s just got to be good old-fashioned — you know, out in the streets flyering to say, ‘Here’s what’s happening.’”
The Health Department advises New Yorkers who live or work in the Bronx, or have visited the area since late August, and are experiencing flu-like symptoms such as a fever or cough to contact a healthcare provider immediately. The agency invites residents of Melrose and Morrisania to a virtual town hall meeting on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Trenton Daniel is a reporter covering public health in New York for Healthbeat. Contact Trenton at tdaniel@healthbeat.org or on the messaging app Signal at trentondaniel.88.
