Residents are hardly singing Zo’s praises.
Frustrated tenants at an Alphabet City housing complex say they have gone two months without showering normally after bacteria linked to Legionnaires’ disease was detected in the building’s water system — and many are fuming that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appeared more focused on high-profile issues uptown and overseas than on their crisis downtown.
On Thursday, residents of Haven Plaza joined local elected officials for a rally, criticizing what they described as a muddled and sluggish response from city health authorities and management at the five-building Avenue C complex.
The drawn-out handling of the Haven Plaza water contamination came as the city was also dealing with a separate Legionnaires’ outbreak on the Upper East Side. At the same time, Mamdani was making headlines for his call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for a rocky rollout of a list of luxury second homes that could potentially be targeted under a proposed pied-à-terre tax.
“He’s not acknowledging us at all down here,” said Kathy Nataadiningrat, a 42-year resident of Haven Plaza. “Everything is uptown, not us little people down here.
“There’s been no attention down here until now that everyone’s here today.”
While Nataadiningrat and other exasperated tenants demanded action, the social media-savvy socialist mayor spent the day on a headline-friendly “site-seeing” tour, riding a double-decker bus to visit three newly built housing developments.
Haven Plaza, located in the East Village’s Alphabet City neighborhood, was constructed in the late 1960s under an urban renewal initiative.
The 371-unit development, run by Catholic Home of New York and Wavecrest Management, has since undergone a major renovation, but many tenants argued recent problems show their home is being forgotten.
Two residents fell ill with Legionnaires’ disease, the first in May 2025 and another this May. The positive test for Legionella bacteria in June prompted a flurry of what tenants contended was confusing advice from city health officials and inaction from management.
Many tenants, including Nataadiningrat, said health officials variously told them to take baths with hoses, avoid showering or to boil water before bathing.
“There is no sense of urgency to actually resolve this problem,” said Dana Cruz, the tenants’ association president. “Our tenants have been directed to not shower.”
Cruz also blasted the seeming slow pace of fixes. She argued Wavecrest and Catholic Homes have refused requests for mobile showers, rent relief and drinking water as tenants waited for a plan.
“Residents still do not know what this plan looks like,” she said. “We have no idea the vendor, the chemicals, how long, the timing — none of it.”
A copy of a health department remediation plan provided by resident Simeon Rose, 63, shows plumbing work kicked off Tuesday. The plan calls for periodic water shut offs and a 30-day treatment period.
“This neighborhood is always the end of the list,” Rose said. “During (Superstorm) Sandy, it took us six, eight weeks to get electricity, which is ironic because we are right next to ConEd.”
An assortment of pols at the rally — including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and lefty City Councilman Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan) — likewise took Mamdani’s health department to task.
“No New Yorkers should be uncertain of the safety of their tap water,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
“For months, no use of showers. For months, uncertainty of their water.”
In a joint statement, Catholic Homes and Wavecrest Management officials said the city health department approval their remediation plan.
“This includes implementing a full water treatment and disinfection plan,” the statement reads. “Residents should continue to follow DOHMH’s recommended guidelines and will be notified of any service disruptions.”
City Hall and health department officials didn’t return requests for comment.
