Legionnaires’ Disease Detected at Guggenheim Museum and Surrounding Buildings
The Guggenheim Museum is among 31 locations on the Upper East Side where the bacteria linked to Legionnaires’ disease has been identified, according to city officials.
On Friday, the city’s health department released an initial roster of buildings with cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella. It’s worth noting that the Guggenheim (located at 1071 Fifth Avenue), along with 18 other properties, has already undertaken cleaning measures on its contaminated cooling tower, as confirmed by the agency.
Twelve additional buildings were instructed to complete deep cleaning by Saturday, although it remains unclear if they all adhered to this deadline.
The full list of affected buildings includes:
- 180 East End Avenue
- 1750 York Avenue
- 1660 Second Avenue
- 1438 Third Avenue
- 1511 Third Avenue
- 1551 Third Avenue
- 1071 Fifth Avenue
- 1080 Fifth Avenue
- 1001 Fifth Avenue
- 240 E. 82nd St.
- 8 E. 83rd Street
- 145 E. 84th St.
- 117 E. 85th St.
- 125 E. 87th St.
- 152 E. 87th St.
- 120 E. 87th St.
- 501 E. 87th St.
- 168 E. 88th St.
- 160 E. 88th St.
- 1875 Second Avenue
- 1110 Fifth Avenue
- 153 E. 78th St.
- 135 E. 79th St.
- 300 E. 79th St.
- 238 E. 81st Street
- 160 E. 84th St.
- 114 E. 85th St.
- 401 E. 88th St.
- 333 E. 91st St.
- 354 E. 91st St.
- 312 E. 95th St.
The testing was conducted using polymerase chain reaction methods, which unfortunately don’t distinguish if the bacteria are still alive. And, as officials remind us, only live bacteria can lead to serious illness.
There’s still some ambiguity about which building might have been the initial source of the infection. The investigation will extend through the weekend, and it’s possible that more buildings could be added to the list of those affected.
It typically takes about two weeks for test results to come back. Currently, at least 46 individuals have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, with 22 of them still hospitalized. The city has tested 183 cooling towers on the Upper East Side since the outbreak began on July 2.
Recent inspections revealed that over half of the nearby cooling towers were found to be unclean. This includes those that did not perform necessary monitoring, cleaning, or submit required test results for Legionella to the health department.
Despite the outbreak, health officials have reassured the public that using local air conditioning and cooling centers remains safe.
