Health & Environment Active Updated Sep 15, 2026
The South Bronx Legionnaires' cluster
A Legionnaires' disease cluster in the Bronx's Melrose and Morrisania neighborhoods, New York City's second cluster this summer after the deadly Upper East Side outbreak, has killed one person and sickened five others. The fight is over whether the city's cooling-tower inspection and response system, already criticized after the Upper East Side and Harlem outbreaks, can contain a third cluster in as many months.
The story so far
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Sep 15, 2026 Latest
The city's Health Department found Legionella at 10 of 24 tested South Bronx cooling towers, including one at Yankee Stadium, in a cluster that grew to 11 positive cases with one death and three hospitalized as of Monday night. Two of the flagged towers, at 820 Concourse Village West and 1265 Franklin Ave., had not kept up the city's required 31-day testing, and the Yankees said their most recent Aug. 20 test was negative and no cases have been linked to the stadium.
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Sep 14, 2026
The city ordered 10 South Bronx cooling towers drained, cleaned and disinfected by Monday after preliminary PCR tests found Legionella bacteria, including towers at Yankee Stadium and Lincoln Hospital, as the cluster grew to nine confirmed cases with three hospitalized. The Yankees said their most recent monthly test on Aug. 20 came back negative for Legionella, and health officials said two of the 10 flagged towers had not submitted the testing required every 31 days since May.
Gothamist 
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Sep 12, 2026
Gothamist found five buildings among the outbreak area's cooling towers had no monthly Legionella test on record despite a citywide law requiring monthly testing since May 8, while Healthbeat counted two of 27 registered towers with no sample submitted. Council Member Justin Sanchez called the outbreak alarming given the ZIP codes' otherwise high compliance rate, and Health Commissioner Alister Martin said any tower that tests positive will be directed to undergo full cleaning and disinfection immediately.
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Sep 11, 2026
New York City's Health Department confirmed a Legionnaires' disease cluster in ZIP codes 10451 and 10456 covering Melrose and Morrisania, killing one person and sickening five others, with results on additional possible cases still pending. Every cooling tower in the area was sampled, with PCR test results due within 24 to 48 hours.
Gothamist
6sqft 
Bronx Times 
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