Residents of the Normandie Court complex on Manhattan's Upper East Side are expressing anger and confusion after discovering Legionella DNA had been detected in their building, a fact they learned from news sources rather than building management.
Tenants allege that management of the four-building complex, which houses 1,476 units, remained silent for over a week after the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene collected samples on July 6. This delay occurred despite the management's practice of sending routine emails for less critical updates, such as weather alerts.
"I first learned about the outbreak… through two different sources, neither of which was management, which is kinda annoying," said resident Pooja Shah, 33. "It’s disappointing that our building didn’t even send us an email to reassure us that our plumbing was safe, or best practices… I had no idea how airborne it is."
Normandie Court was among 31 buildings with cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella bacteria during an initial PCR screening, the Department of Health announced on July 10. Management eventually communicated with tenants on July 14 via a letter.
The letter stated, "As part of our regularly scheduled water testing protocol conducted by Metro Group, our certified water management company, the routine Legionella culture test performed on June 23 returned with no Legionella detected. However, we were notified today by the Department of Health that samples collected on July 6 as part of the enhanced testing initiative produced a preliminary positive PCR result."
Management further clarified that "a PCR-positive result indicates the presence of Legionella DNA but does not necessarily confirm the presence of viable bacteria."
Residents questioned the eight-day delay between the sample collection on July 6 and the management's notification on July 14. "An eight-day delay in getting a result seems a little long," stated a second resident, a lawyer who pays $5,200 monthly for a two-bedroom apartment. "I think it would have been nice if they could say… these are the precautions we’re taking. Give me some information… I pay a lot of money to live there."
On July 14, Normandie's management informed residents that Metro Group "performed a full hyperhalogenation and disinfection of the cooling tower today, and the tower will then be retested pursuant to Department of Health guidelines."
Despite these actions, unanswered questions have left residents feeling uneasy. "The gist for me is that this disease, including how it spreads and how it is treated, is confusing and not clear, and I don’t think anyone is being communicative," a third resident commented anonymously. "I personally feel like this is chaotic and not well managed. But I can’t get a sense of who is to blame."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health confirmed that all 76 buildings ordered to clean and disinfect their cooling towers have completed remediation, though culture test results are still pending to determine if the bacteria was viable.
Legionella bacteria is not transmitted from person to person. It is dispersed into the air through airborne water droplets from sources like cooling towers, which can be accidentally inhaled by people.
The incident at Normandie Court is part of a larger outbreak in the Upper East Side neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, which has resulted in 74 reported cases, 59 hospitalizations, and three deaths. Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia that can be treated with antibiotics if detected early.
This year's outbreak follows a trend, with over 250 cooling towers across New York City cited for Legionella testing failures since the previous year, more than half of those in Manhattan.
New York City typically sees between 200 to 700 cases of Legionnaires' disease annually, according to the Department of Health. A previous outbreak in Harlem in 2025 sickened 114 people and resulted in five deaths.
Normandie's management did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Health stated that residents could continue using air conditioners, cooling centers, showers, and tap water following the positive tests.