More than 500 cooling towers across Manhattan are not in compliance with city regulations requiring monthly water sample tests to help combat the spread of the potentially deadly Legionella bacteria, records examined by The City Reporter show.
All told there are 568 towers that records show haven’t submitted required tests to the Department of Health since at least last year, of which 393 have no record of submitting any test results at all, a review of data by The City Reporter has found.
The widespread lack of up-to-date testing raises the potential for Legionella to spread, as it did on the Upper East Side and Carnegie Hill over the last month, sickening 60 New Yorkers, including 15 of whom remained hospitalized as of Tuesday.
In that cluster, health officials tested 183 cooling towers within zip codes 10028, 10075 and 10128. There’s no record of any prior testing at 28 of those towers, while another 10 last reported a test in 2025.
Last week, health officials released a list of 31 addresses in those zip codes with cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella. On Tuesday, they updated that list, adding 45 more buildings they said had tested positive.
At five of the original 31 buildings that tested positive, there is no record documenting that the owner had ever submitted test results to the DOHMH for at least one tower at the site, a records review by The City Reporter found.
The five buildings include 1750 York Ave., part of the Asphalt Green sports complex, apartment buildings at 1660 2nd Ave., 333 E 91st St. and 145 E 84th St. and the former Yorkville Bank Building at 1511 3rd Ave.
A cooling tower atop a roof on 1660 2nd Ave. tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease, July 14, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter
Cooling towers, which provide the water that air conditioning systems rely on to cool buildings, are the usual source for Legionella, although the bacteria is also sometimes found in water systems, such as the recent outbreak at an apartment building called Haven Plaza in the East Village.
Last fall, the City Council passed stricter rules on testing in response to a deadly outbreak in Harlem of Legionnaires’ Disease, a serious form of pneumonia that can result from exposure to Legionella. The new rules required owners to self-report to DOHMH sample testing every 31 days, instead of every 90 days as previously required.
The stricter rules took effect in May, but a review of health department records makes clear the owners of hundreds of cooling towers are still not in compliance.
Last week Council Speaker Julie Menin, whose district includes the targeted zip codes, wrote to Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin calling on the agency to order owners of all cooling towers in the three zip codes to drain and disinfect them as a precaution.
“I am deeply concerned that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has still failed to require building owners to proactively disinfect all cooling towers in the area under investigation,” she wrote. “Every day, more of our neighbors are falling ill from Legionnaires’ disease. This district has some of the densest zip codes in the nation and a high number of seniors who are especially susceptible to the disease, making this request even more necessary and urgent.”
During a press call late Tuesday, Dr. Martin declined to commit to that request, stating, “This is by far the most aggressive we’ve ever been,” adding, “I don’t think you can get more aggressive than this.” Dr. Martin noted that DOHMH has ordered full remediation of all 76 cooling towers that have tested positive.
The results of the cooling tower tests are preliminary and do not distinguish between bacteria that are dead or alive. Only live bacteria can trigger Legionnaires’ disease, which is normally only harmful to anyone who smokes or vapes, anyone with immune system issues and adults over 50, health officials note.
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