Deadly Legionnaires' Outbreak Response Questioned By NYC Officials

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — New York City Council leaders on Tuesday said they plan to investigate the city's handling of the ongoing Legionnaires' disease outbreak on the Upper East Side, which has killed four people and hospitalized dozens more since July 2.

Council Speaker Julie Menin, whose district includes much of the outbreak zone, also shared intentions to introduce legislation aimed at preventing similar public health crises, particularly aimed at improving the city's communication, as well as its disinfecting protocols for contaminated cooling towers.

Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which thrive in humid environments such as cooling towers. Cooling towers help air-condition buildings by cycling warm air through a chamber of water, creating conditions where the bacteria can grow. In ZIP codes 10028, 10128 and 10075, 76 buildings were found to have Legionella bacteria in their cooling towers, the health department said.

"We are concerned about the communication from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene," Menin said.

"While we appreciate the town halls that DOHMH had, the real issue is that we had urged from the beginning that the buildings be proactively disinfected," Menin said.

As of Tuesday morning, 76 people have been infected, and seven remained hospitalized.

Both Menin and Councilmember Virginia Maloney said their offices heard from residents who were unsure whether it was safe to leave their homes, whether immunocompromised family members should go outside and what precautions they should take.

"In public health emergencies, those questions should never go unanswered," Maloney said. "Public health depends on public trust, and trust depends on timely and transparent communication."

Rather than waiting for confirmatory testing, Menin argued that all cooling towers in the area should have been disinfected immediately while testing results develop.

"With every hour the towers were not disinfected, with every day that they were not prophylactically disinfected, more New Yorkers became sick and four tragically died," Menin said. "That is simply unacceptable."

The push for legislation to mandate proactively disinfecting cooling towers during an outbreak comes after Menin urged the Department of Health to rapidly issue orders to clean the towers earlier this month.

"I want to say that it was really through the efforts of the speaker and this community that forced the Department of Health to start testing buildings much earlier," Valerie Mason, the chair of Community Board 8, said.

"And I think I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying if we didn't do that, we would probably see a lot more sick New Yorkers," Mason said.

The City Council will hold an oversight hearing in September to examine the city's response, including why more than a quarter of cooling towers in the three affected ZIP codes were not in compliance with city requirements despite legislation passed earlier this year, Menin said.

Menin also questioned why 23 water ecology positions at the Department of Health remain vacant, saying those specialists are responsible for responding to positive Legionella tests.

"Those positions should have been filled," she said.

The date and time for the oversight hearing have not been scheduled yet.

Councilmembers also suggested introducing legislation that would strengthen public notification requirements during Legionnaires' outbreaks and require the health department to establish a dedicated hotline during peak summer months, as well as year-round education.

Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse, chair of the Committee on Hospitals and a registered nurse, said the outbreak underscored the need not only for stronger laws but also better enforcement.

"We passed a bill, and apparently there was no enforcement there," Narcisse said. "That is why we must act now."

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.