{"id":159741,"date":"2025-08-20T00:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159741\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T00:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:31:14","slug":"harlem-hospitals-cooling-towers-spread-legionnaires-disease-in-deadly-nyc-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159741\/","title":{"rendered":"Harlem Hospital’s cooling towers spread Legionnaires’ disease in deadly NYC outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rainwater left untreated in cooling towers atop city-owned Harlem Hospital fueled the Big Apple\u2019s deadliest Legionnaire\u2019s disease outbreak<\/a> in a decade, the Rev. Al Sharpton charged Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Sharpton, along with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, plan to unveil a lawsuit Wednesday against a construction company that did work in Harlem \u2013 the epicenter of an outbreak that has killed five people and sickened more than 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should be able to depend on our hospitals and public spaces,\u201d Sharpton told The Post.<\/p>\n

Rev. Al Sharpton blamed untreated rainwater in cooling towers at Harlem Hospital is to blame for the deadliest Legionnaire\u2019s disease outbreak in a decade. William Farrington<\/p>\n

\u201cWe clearly should be monitoring this more closely.\u00a0 We have to be diligent about it. We cannot allow this Legionnaires\u2019 outbreak to be normalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooling towers at Harlem Hospital filled with rainwater after several large July storms, but was left untreated \u2014 permitting the bacteria to spread among workers at the site, according to statement from Sharpton and Crump.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, while still-murky, dovetails with growing suspicions that the city dropped the ball on inspections of cooling towers at its buildings \u2014 including Harlem Hospital<\/a> \u2014 and others that helped incubate the insidious bacteria that causes Legionnaires\u2019 disease.<\/p>\n

Four of 12 cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella bacteria were on city- or government-owned buildings.<\/p>\n

Two of those buildings \u2014 Harlem Hospital and the city Department of Health\u2019s Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic \u2014 are on the same stretch of West 137th Street, a quiet residential neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Building owners by state law and city health code are required to test for the disease-causing bacteria Legionella every 90 days to avoid outbreaks. <\/p>\n

The outbreak has led to 5 people being killed, with over 100 more affected by the disease. Google Earth<\/p>\n

City health department scientists also separately conduct inspections, usually every year, on cooling towers to make sure they\u2019re adequately disinfected and building owners are regularly testing for Legionella.<\/p>\n

A Post analysis of city records showed the Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic had racked up 18 violations during cooling tower inspections starting in 2017.<\/p>\n

No city record showed whether the clinic\u2019s cooling tower had been tested for Legionella.<\/p>\n

A DOH spokesperson said a new tower had been installed on the building in June.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Shaprton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump blame the hospital for failing to clean up the towers that filled up during the summer storms. James Keivom<\/p>\n

\u201cJust four weeks ago, the cooling tower on top of the clinic tested negative for Legionella bacteria,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water sample taken in July 2025 as part of the Legionnaires\u2019 Disease Cluster response was positive, showing how quickly Legionella bacteria can grow in cooling towers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson didn\u2019t immediately have information on whether the previous tank had been tested for Legionella, or why it was replaced.<\/p>\n

The first positive diagnoses of Legionnaires\u2019 in the recent outbreak were made July 22, according to DOH data.<\/p>\n

But Daniel Mckeithan, a 52-year-old chef, said he first felt sick on June 19 when he headed to his daughter\u2019s baby shower in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Believing it to be the flu, Mckeithan spent the baby shower in a hotel before coming back to New York. He went to Harlem Hospital on June 23, where doctors observed him as antibiotics were administered by IV for the better part of a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was scared. It affects your lungs. I still feel a pull on lungs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cLegionnaires\u2019 hits you \u2014 and it hits you real fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lawsuit details that the city didn\u2019t do its due diligence on cooling towers at the buildings that were at the center of the Legionnaire\u2019s disease outbreak \u2014 including Harlem Hospital. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

Mckeithan said it was \u201cactually crazy\u201d to hear that the hospital he was being treated at \u2014 and where he returns for follow-up appointments \u2014 had a cooling tower that tested positive for Legionella.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about a government building,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be minding their Ps and Qs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jory Lange \u2014 an attorney representing 44 Legionnaires\u2019 patients in the current outbreak, including Mckeithan and one who died \u2014 already has a pending lawsuit against the city\u2019s Health + Hospitals alleging a cooling tower at Harlem Hospital caused a 2021 outbreak.<\/p>\n

4 out of the 12 cooling towers tested positive for the bacteria of the disease, and they were city- or government-owned properties. Rob Jejenich \/ NY Post Design<\/p>\n

He called it \u201cvery disturbing\u201d that a third of the cooling towers in the recent outbreak were government-owned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows how long the cooling towers were positive?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Attorney Scott A. Harford, who is co-counsel in the pending suit and repped 15 plaintiffs sickened during a 2018 outbreak<\/a> in Washington Heights\u2019 Sugar Hill, said the Legionella bacteria will explode in \u201cno time,\u201d if building owners don\u2019t have a water management plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s concerning that there are so many city-owned entities that are having issues maintaining their water, and that requires an examination of their water quality plan, who they\u2019re using and how they\u2019re maintaining their water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Robert, a 59-year-old who stepped out of a pizza shop across from the Harlem clinic, called the city \u201cirresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a city run hospital goddamn\u00a0it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe in coincidences. I don\u2019t believe that this could not have been prevented. It\u2019s only happening in Harlem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Toya M., who lives directly across the street from the clinic, wasn\u2019t surprised by the outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always forgotten,\u201d Toya said. \u201cHad this been a white neighborhood, they would\u2019ve been inspected regularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarlem is always last on the list for everything, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Eric Adams, during an unrelated event Tuesday, defended the city\u2019s health department. He argued Legionnaires\u2019-causing bacteria can pop up shortly after a negative test.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone could accuse the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of not really being proactive and reactive, when it comes out to saving the lives of New Yorkers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy and Vaughn Golden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rainwater left untreated in cooling towers atop city-owned Harlem Hospital fueled the Big Apple\u2019s deadliest Legionnaire\u2019s disease outbreak…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[21072,5229,5231,2041,64166,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,88202,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-159741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-al-sharpton","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-harlem","11":"tag-health-department","12":"tag-legionnaires-disease","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-nyc-health-and-hospitals","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115058277552433498","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}