Overview
- This summer’s Upper East Side cluster sickened 94 people and resulted in 11 confirmed deaths and city officials say there is no evidence of ongoing transmission.
- Health Department testing covered 183 cooling towers at 160 buildings and found 59 culture‑positive towers that were ordered cleaned and disinfected.
- The mayor announced the new package Tuesday to expand public mapping of registered towers, cross‑check Health and Buildings records to find unregistered towers, speed enforcement hearings, and create a scientific advisory panel.
- City Council members held an oversight hearing that featured emotional testimony from victims’ families and focused on staffing shortfalls in the Health Department’s water ecologist unit, which has filled 43 of 56 positions.
- Investigators are still working to genetically match patient and tower samples with results expected in September and the reforms could prompt faster testing methods, new local laws, and tighter enforcement that would change how building owners manage cooling towers.