New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is breaking from standard public health protocols in his management of the summer outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease.
He announced this week that his administration will publicly release the specific addresses of all buildings whose cooling towers test positive for Legionella bacteria.
The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene officially launched an investigation after confirming the first 2 Legionnaire’s disease cases on July 2, and by July 5, there were 18 cases in the Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods, which span the 10028, 10128, and 10075 mail zip codes.
Mamdani's official residence, known as Gracie Mansion, is located within the 10128 zip code.
“We’re using every tool available to protect people by moving quickly to identify potential sources of exposure, requiring immediate remediation and making sure New Yorkers have the information they need to keep themselves and their families safe,” Mamdani added.
In past outbreaks, when a building tower tested positive, they waited up to two weeks for a definitive laboratory culture test before a full cleaning and disinfection was required.
Under Mamdani’s unprecedented escalation, buildings whose cooling towers test positive will receive a Commissioner’s Order requiring immediate draining, cleaning, and disinfecting the towers.
Legionnaires’ Disease has sickened 23 people since July 6 in a community cluster on the Upper East Side, according to the health department.
Seventeen people have been hospitalized, including two who have since been discharged and are now recovering at home. No deaths have been reported.
Legionnaires' disease presents as a type of pneumonia, and symptoms can include a high fever, chills, muscle aches, a persistent cough, and shortness of breath.
Some 139 samples have been extracted from cooling towers, as of July 6, according to the health department. There are approximately 160 cooling towers within the three ZIP codes under investigation.
“More than 100 NYC Health Department staff members have worked nonstop since the start of this cluster as we take aggressive action to ensure that we are cutting off the source of exposure as quickly as possible,” NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said in a statement. “The Mamdani administration is taking unprecedented steps, not just to cut off the source of exposure, but to keep New Yorkers informed on what’s happening.”