Two additional deaths have been linked to the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, bringing the total number of fatalities to 11, even as New York City health officials said Friday that the cluster is no longer showing signs of spreading.
In a statement released Friday, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said the Health Department’s disease investigators had verified “two additional deaths connected to the Upper East Side Legionnaires’ disease cluster.”
“We are deeply saddened by every life lost, and our hearts are with the families and loved ones who are grieving,” Martin said, acknowledging the grief felt by those affected.
Martin added that officials have found “no evidence of ongoing transmission,” noting that the most recent diagnosis was recorded more than six weeks ago.
In all, the summer Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the Upper East Side has resulted in 94 confirmed cases across New York City, including 11 deaths.
Nearly 80 people were hospitalized during the outbreak, but Martin said the situation has since improved significantly, confirming that “there are now no patients hospitalized with this illness” and that “the last remaining patient has recovered and returned home.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, an Upper East Side resident, said she was “saddened by the news that two additional New Yorkers died.”
“The toll this outbreak has had on dozens of impacted families, and on our neighborhood as a whole, is truly devastating,” Menin said.
Menin announced that the “City Council will closely examine how this tragic outbreak occurred and what additional actions and policies are needed to better protect New Yorkers” during their hearing next Wednesday.
Martin said scientists will continue to work on matching samples from contaminated water cooling towers with samples from patients sickened by the disease.
The city expects the findings in September and will be shared publicly.
The death toll from the outbreak on the Upper East Side surpassed last year’s deadly Harlem cluster — where seven people died from the disease.
More people, however, were sickened in the Harlem outbreak, with a total of 114 cases and 90 hospitalizations, according to city data.
Dozens of water cooling towers atop buildings on the Upper East Side tested positive for the bacteria behind this year’s outbreak — including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper Hewitt, the Guggenheim Museum and several ritzy private schools.
But in Harlem last year, water cooling towers above city-owned properties, including Harlem Hospital, were linked to the grim outbreak.
Grieving families and survivors of the deadly 2025 Harlem cluster sued the Big Apple earlier this month in a trio of lawsuits — including a wrongful death claim involving five of the seven people who died.
