NYC unveils new Legionnaires safety measures after 11 deaths in Upper East Side cluster

Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a new plan Tuesday to strengthen the city’s response to Legionnaires’ disease as officials work to get ahead of future outbreaks. The new measures follow 11 deaths and more than 90 cases linked to this summer’s Legionnaires’ cluster on the Upper East Side. They also come a day before an oversight hearing at City Hall, where council members are expected to question city officials over their response and handling of the outbreak. “When New Yorkers’ health is at stake, government cannot wait for the crisis to pass before asking how it can do better. Our response to the Upper East Side cluster was fast and aggressive, and we are building on what we learned to make our systems stronger, enforcement faster and public health response more transparent,” Mamdani said in a statement. Among the new measures announced Tuesday, the Mamdani administration says the health department’s cooling tower lookup tool will expand into a citywide mapping feature, making all registered cooling towers across the city visible to New Yorkers. The feature will include tower history and compliance. The tool is set to be launched by next spring. The city will also explore proactive measures that include the creation of a scientific advisory panel to “evaluate emerging cooling tower technology” and “explore alternative cooling technologies” in an effort to reduce the city’s reliance on cooling towers. The city’s health department plans to appoint a chair and panel members in a matter of months. The city’s health and building departments will work in partnership to more quickly identify unregistered cooling towers and register new towers before the come online. Unregistered cooling towers were identified in both the Upper East Side and last year’s Harlem clusters. Mamdani’s administration seeks to improve enforcement as well. Owners who receive a summons for violating tower regulations have the chance to appeal their violations. Hearing dates will now be scheduled within 15 days to accelerate the process and strengthen enforcement, the city says. The 11 deaths top the total number of deaths in a similar outbreak in Harlem in 2025, when seven people lost their lives. According to the city, as of August 31, there are no longer any Legionnaires’ patients in the hospital.