The deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak gripping Harlem has claimed its fifth life, sickened more than 100 New Yorkers, and triggered outrage over lax oversight—yet Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday brushed aside questions about whether the city has done enough to prevent the crisis.

City health officials confirmed Tuesday that at least 108 people have been infected across five ZIP codes in Upper Manhattan, with 14 hospitalized and five dead. The surge comes after 12 cooling towers in Central Harlem—including four atop government-owned buildings—tested positive for live Legionella bacteria. The towers were drained, disinfected, and declared safe only after the outbreak was already underway.

“This is a challenge for the city. Of course responsibility and mitigation are solely within their purview,” Hochul said when pressed on whether the city failed to protect residents. Speaking at an unrelated event in Rome, NY, she insisted officials were “all over this” and said she would support them, even as she admitted, “I’m concerned. I’m concerned.”

Critics point to a collapse in city inspections as a key factor in the outbreak. Health Department data show that only about 1,200 cooling towers were tested for Legionella in the first six months of this year—down sharply from nearly 5,100 inspections at the same point in 2017.

Despite the drop, Hochul sidestepped calls for tougher regulations and harsher penalties for building owners who flout testing laws. “I don’t know how you can prevent it,” she said, suggesting that outbreaks “happen in communities unexpectedly” and hinting at only vague legislative fixes.

Harlem residents erupted last week after city officials admitted they had withheld building addresses tied to the outbreak, even as cases mounted. Officials initially disclosed only ZIP codes—10027, 10030, 10035, 10037, and 10039—despite weeks of rising infections. Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse defended the decision, arguing that “all New Yorkers” needed to remain vigilant regardless of location.

Morse confirmed the fifth death linked to the outbreak occurred last month, with the cause of death only recently attributed to Legionnaires’ disease. She insisted remediation efforts are working and said new cases are declining.

The Harlem outbreak follows a grim history of Legionnaires’ flare-ups in New York City. In 2022, five residents of a Manhattan nursing home died in a cluster of cases. In 2015, a South Bronx outbreak tied to cooling towers at the Opera House Hotel sickened over 100 people and killed 12.

Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia, is spread through inhaling contaminated water droplets but cannot be transmitted person to person. It is treatable with antibiotics if diagnosed early. Symptoms include fever, cough, chills, muscle aches, and shortness of breath, typically appearing two to 10 days after exposure.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)