Chair Schulman on declining inspection rates and enforcement data
Schulman presents data showing cooling tower inspections declined over 50% since 2017, from 5,000 annually to 2,300 in 2025. She cites $5.1 million in outstanding violation balances and 94 test reports showing hazardous Legionella levels with no cleanings performed.
Thank you, Speaker Menon.
Almost one year ago today, this committee held a hearing to discuss the city's response to the 2025 Legionnaires disease cluster in Harlem, which hospitalized 90 people and claimed seven lives.
Legionnaires disease is a serious type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which can spread through water droplets dispersed by cooling towers, rooftop structures that contain water, and a fan as part of a centralized air cooling system for a building.
Most healthy individuals exposed to Legionella bacteria do not get sick, but individuals who are 50 years of age or older or have chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems are at an increased risk for illness and hospitalization.
When large Legionnaires outbreaks occur, it is almost always due
to the presence of live Legionella bacteria in cooling tower systems.
However, I want to acknowledge that Legionella can also grow and spread within the plumbing system of a particular building.
These systems are subject to different protocols.
We will hear about that today as well with a main focus on cooling towers.
Over the past decade, amid multiple outbreaks, New York City has adopted some of the strictest standards for Legionella testing, cleaning, and remediation in the world.
Last year, the Council collaborated with DOHMH to enact my bill, Local Law 159, which requires building owners to conduct monthly, every 30 days,
Legionella testing and disinfect cooling towers when they are in operation, usually during the warm summer months when Legionella bacteria is most likely to grow and spread.
DOHMH implemented this law in May with the promise that these requirements would help prevent the next outbreak.
And yet we are here again in the wake of another deeply traumatic and preventable tragedy.
What happened?
First, climate change has increased New York City's temperatures over the summer months, especially in the past two years, which gave rise to outbreaks in each of these years, creating a ripe atmosphere for Legionella bacteria to grow and thrive.
And just as important, the data shows that the laws we have on the books are only as strong as the administration's commitment to enforce them.
According to open data records, the number of cooling tower systems inspected by DOHMH each year has declined by over 50% since 2007.
from about 5,000 annually in 2017 to 2,300 in 2025.
There's a chart with a graph on the screen, and you can see the precipitous fall in the number of inspections.
The slide displayed on the screen shows DOHMH data compiled into a line graph in a recent Gothamist report.
It shows that over the past decade, the overall number of cooling towers inspected in the first six months of each year has declined from over 3,000 in 2017 to just over 1,500 in 2026.
This, too, is a 50% decline.