The city has published the addresses of 31 Upper East Side buildings whose cooling towers tested positive for Legionella, the most detailed public accounting yet of the outbreak that has now sickened 46 people across the neighborhood.
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As of Friday, the cluster stood at 46 confirmed cases and 22 hospitalizations, with no deaths reported. The count has climbed steadily since the first two cases surfaced on July 2.An important caveat comes with the list. A positive result here means a tower came back positive on a PCR screening, which detects traces of Legionella — living or dead. It does not confirm that any given building is the source of someone’s illness. A second, more conclusive culture test is underway for every sampled tower to determine which ones had live bacteria growing when the samples were collected, and those results can take up to two weeks. Every building on the list has been ordered to immediately drain, clean, and disinfect its cooling tower regardless, and the city says the roster may grow as testing continues.
Nineteen of the 31 buildings had completed that cleaning as of Friday:
- 180 East End Avenue
- 1750 York Avenue
- 1660 Second Avenue
- 1438 Third Avenue
- 1511 Third Avenue
- 1551 Third Avenue
- 1001 Fifth Avenue
- 1071 Fifth Avenue
- 1080 Fifth Avenue
- 240 East 82nd Street
- 8 East 83rd Street
- 145 East 84th Street
- 117 East 85th Street
- 120 East 87th Street
- 125 East 87th Street
- 152 East 87th Street
- 501 East 87th Street
- 160 East 88th Street
- 168 East 88th Street
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The remaining 12 had cleaning still pending:- 1875 Second Avenue
- 1110 Fifth Avenue
- 153 East 78th Street
- 135 East 79th Street
- 300 East 79th Street
- 238 East 81st Street
- 160 East 84th Street
- 114 East 85th Street
- 401 East 88th Street
- 333 East 91st Street
- 354 East 91st Street
- 312 East 95th Street
The Health Department is still asking anyone who lives, works, or has spent time on the east side of Central Park between 76th and 97th Streets since late June — ZIP codes 10028, 10128, and 10075 — to watch for flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, chills, muscle aches, headaches, or shortness of breath, and to see a healthcare provider immediately if they appear. Symptoms can take anywhere from two to 14 days to develop after exposure. Anyone who needs help finding a provider can call 311 or (844) 692-4692.
Officials continue to stress that daily life in the neighborhood is safe. The cluster isn’t tied to any building’s plumbing, and it remains fine to drink tap water, shower, cook, and run air conditioners. Legionnaires’ spreads only when someone breathes in contaminated mist, never from person to person, and it’s treatable with antibiotics when caught early. Those at higher risk include people 50 and older, smokers, and anyone with chronic lung disease or a weakened immune system.
We’ll provide updates as the city’s list changes and culture-test results come in. The full building list and latest guidance are available from the NYC Health Department.
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