City health officials ordered ten cooling towers, including one at Yankee Stadium, to undergo cleaning and disinfection following preliminary testing that detected Legionella bacteria amid a growing Melrose and Morrisania outbreak that has killed one person and sickened eight others.
The New York City Health Department expanded its response to a South Bronx community cluster on Sunday, September 13, 2026, after water sampling across 24 cooling tower systems identified bacterial presence. The outbreak, concentrated in the 10451 and 10456 ZIP codes, has hospitalized three people while four others have been discharged and one person did not require hospitalization, according to city figures.
Yankee Stadium and Lincoln Hospital Towers Among Ten Ordered Cleaned
Investigators targeted ten specific locations for immediate remediation, giving building operators a strict deadline of Monday, September 14, to complete draining, cleaning, and disinfection. Among the ordered properties is the facility at 1 E. 161st St., the address of Yankee Stadium, where the New York Yankees played the New York Mets. Another ordered site is located at 234 E. 149th St., corresponding to the address of Lincoln Hospital. Representatives for the Yankees and Lincoln Hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Health authorities emphasized that preliminary PCR testing detects the presence of Legionella DNA but cannot determine whether the bacteria are alive or dead. Officials said confirmatory culture testing is underway to determine whether any of the towers contain live Legionella.
Health Commissioner Alister Martin Addresses Public Risk and Building Air Quality
Addressing public concern regarding buildings with testing-positive systems, Health Commissioner Alister Martin clarified that simply entering a structure does not expose occupants to the cooling tower’s water.
“In essence, the air inside the building is not different from anywhere else in the neighborhood,” Martin said.
Alister Martin, Health Commissioner
Martin said Legionnaires’ disease is treatable and urged people experiencing fever, cough, shortness of breath or muscle aches to seek medical care. Officials stressed there is no additional risk from being inside any of the buildings and that it remains safe to drink tap water, shower and use air conditioners in the impacted neighborhoods.
Health officials are urging anyone who lives, works or has visited the area since late August to seek medical attention if they develop symptoms including fever, chills, cough, muscle aches or shortness of breath. Community outreach efforts have expanded in recent days, with health workers distributing more than 1,100 informational flyers and engaging hundreds of residents.
New Cooling Tower Reporting Requirements and Ongoing Investigation
The NYC Health Department is currently investigating a likely community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in parts of Melrose and Morrisania in the South Bronx (ZIP codes 10451 and 10456). Cooling towers are part of large air conditioning or refrigeration systems, often located on building rooftops, which cool indoor spaces by removing heat from indoor air using water and evaporating it as mist into the outdoor air. The cooling tower system contains warm water, creating an ideal environment for the rapid growth of Legionella bacteria, especially if the system is not maintained and regularly treated with biocide chemicals. The mist released from cooling towers can carry these bacteria out into the environment, where people may then breathe in the Legionella bacteria.
New cooling tower reporting requirements mandate monthly Legionella sample collection and reporting beginning May 8, 2026, with no more than 31 days between samples. A building’s qualified person must report the date of each Legionella sample in the NYC Cooling Tower Registration Portal within five days of sample collection, and the NYC Health Department may issue a summons to building owners that do not comply. Additionally, summertime hyperhalogenation must be performed in each cooling tower system between July 1 and August 31 each year, followed by testing for Legionella three to 31 days after completion and submission of a Summertime Hyperhalogenation Declaration Form to the portal within 30 days.
Meanwhile, the New York City Health Department announced that thirty-four cooling towers at 33 buildings on the Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, with nine towers testing negative and results pending for an additional 140 cooling towers. As of Tuesday, officials reported 82 Legionnaires’ disease cases connected to that cluster, including five deaths, spanning the 10028, 10075 and 10128 ZIP code areas. All buildings on the Upper East Side list have already completed remediation by draining, cleaning and disinfecting their cooling towers.
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