Welcome2TheBronx is conducting research on individuals who have been infected with Legionnaires’ during New York City’s largest outbreak in history in the South Bronx which has claimed 13 lives and hundreds infected.
Please email us a info@welcome2thebronx.com or call 917.532.7504. All information will be kept strictly confidential and you will not be identified if you choose not to.
largest Legionnaires’ outbreak in history which infected hundreds and killed 13 individuals in The South Bronx (including a teacher who worked in the area who passed away in April),Welcome2TheBronx has been insisting that the city tests our drinking water supply systems since study after study and the EPA and CDC clearly indicate that the majority of cases originate within such systems.
Now, two weeks after the outbreak was declared by Department of Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett as contained, the drinking water supply systems at one NYCHA building at Melrose Houses at 681 Courtlandt Avenue has tested positive for Legionella where 4 people have become ill including one before the “official” outbreak.
New York City Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett has just announced that The Opera House Hotel was ground zero for New York City’s largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease which took the lives of 12 South Bronx residents (although DOH still is not connecting the teacher who died from PS 325 in the impact zone back in April).
According to an email obtained by Welcome2TheBronx, Hostos Community College, which has an enrollment of over 7,000 students, has tested positive for Legionella, the bacteria which causes Legionnaires’ disease, however it is 10x below the threshold for recommended cleansing action by OSHA guidelines. Still, Hostos Community College went ahead and made sure that all cooling towers were treated and cleaned regardless of the results.
The building sits catty-corner to the Bronx General Post Office which tested also tested positive for Legionella and remained closed for several days while its cooling towers were treated and cleaned and is one of 5 buildings in a 1/2 mile radius from each other as you can see by zooming in on the map below.
The first thing we were told when New York City’s largest Legionnaires Outbreak in its…
The Opera House Hotel in Melrose, The South Bronx, one of the sites identified as having had a Legionella contaminated cooling tower in New York City’s largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ in city history, issued a statement today which slams New York City Department of Health due to officials who, “…have refused to provide us with any information.”
The Opera House Hotel also claims that NYC DOH has yet to tell the hotel that their water cooler tested positive.
According to Erin Clark of NY1 as per a press conference yesterday, there were 3 additional Legionella contaminated sites besides Bronx Housing Court and Bronx County Hall of Justice. The Bronx General Post Office, Samuel Gompers High School and another Verizon building have been identified as contaminated and since been disinfected. This is the first time that a school has tested positive for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease which has infected over 100 and killed 10 not including a South Bronx teacher who died in April from the disease.
What do these buildings all have in common? Our drinking supply. Although our reservoirs may be fine and technically when New York City Department of Health tells us that our supply is safe, it does NOT mean that the systems of which it travels through is.
We’ve been through this before in The Bronx. We all know if this were happening in Manhattan, perhaps on the Upper East Side or any area below 96th Street, there would be more action and faster results than we are getting, but we’re not.
It’s still a tale of two cities when it comes to health disparities and issues.
The Bronx Museum was overflowing with concerned Bronx residents about the current Legionnaires’ outbreak in our borough—so much so that well over a hundred more could not get inside.
With a 4th death, along with additional sites having been identified as contaminated with Legionella—the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease—and additional cases of individuals who have contracted the infection, tonight’s Town Hall meeting at The Bronx Museum from 6PM – 8PM on the issue is going to have to answer a lot of questions.
Is the city doing enough? Is our drinking water really safe?
New York City has contacted Welcome2TheBronx to help spread the news of a Town Hall on the recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in The South Bronx. The meeting will be held on Monday, August 3rd at The Bronx Museum from 6PM – 8PM where community leaders, health department medical professionals and city officials will come together so we can learn more about this disease and how NYC is making sure our communities are safe.
It is IMPORTANT to attend this meeting so that you may make your voices heard about any concerns regarding this recent outbreak, the second such this year in The Bronx.
Jacobi Hospital’s drinking water supply has tested positive for legionella bacteria which causes the potentially…
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