Upper East Side Legionnaires' Outbreak Sickens 46, Hospitalizing 22 as NYC Scrutinizes 203 Cooling Towers
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jul 10
Upper East Side Legionnaires' Outbreak Sickens 46, Hospitalizing 22 as NYC Scrutinizes 203 Cooling Towers
3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Jul 10
Summary
46 people have now fallen ill in Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, with 22 hospitalized, as New York City continues searching for the source of the Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak.
203 active cooling towers appear in Gothamist's review of the three affected ZIP codes, versus 160 identified by the health department, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged to publish locations of towers that test positive.
55% of those 203 towers had 2026 Legionella test results on file, and about half had gone more than a year without a city inspection, reflecting broader citywide enforcement gaps tied to too few inspectors.
Hot summer weather can help Legionella grow in cooling towers and spread through airborne mist; towers that test positive must be drained, cleaned and disinfected, though rapid PCR tests can detect dead bacteria too.
29% of Carnegie Hill residents were 65 or older in 2020, nearly double the citywide 15%, leaving a larger share of locals in a group at higher risk of severe illness.