Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration must launch its own probe into New York City’s handling of the deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Harlem, her predecessor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
Cuomo — now running for mayor — was governor when a Legionnaires’ outbreak hit the Bronx in 2015, resulting in 15 deaths and 120 hospitalizations. After hearing complaints from Bronx officials and residents, he ordered a state investigation that led to stricter rules involving testing cooling towers for the disease-causing bacteria Legionnela.
“Confidence in government is paramount, and New Yorkers deserve to know if the City followed its own rules to prevent this deadly outbreak,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“The last time we confronted a Legionnaires’ outbreak of this scale, we not only moved heaven and earth to stop it, we put in place tough new protocols to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
“With the City now serving as both the regulator and the landlord for many of the affected buildings, there is an inherent conflict of interest. Only an independent review can determine whether the right steps were taken — or whether City inaction made a bad situation worse.”
Some of the cooling towers that tested positive for Legionnella in the current outbreak are on city-owned buildings, including Harlem Hospital and the city Department of Health’s Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic on the same stretch of West 137th Street.
Cuomo said that means city officials may not be complying with the law they’re supposed to enforce.
There’s an “inherent conflict of interest” for the city to serve as both “the regulator and the landlord” of the affected buildings, he said.
The state Health Department must conduct an independent probe because the city can’t investigate itself, Cuomo said.
At least five people have died and more than 100 others have been sickened with Legionnaires’, according to city health officials.
A state Health Department spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that it was assisting city Health Department officials in addressing the outbreak.
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“DOH continues to work around the clock to support NYC’s Legionnaires’ response. As a result of this collaborative effort, exposure has been significantly reduced, with no new diagnoses since August 12, and all identified deficient cooling towers have been remediated. We are continuing to aggressively monitor the situation, and any New Yorker experiencing symptoms should seek medical treatment immediately,” the DOH spokesperson said.
Hochul said the state was playing a “supportive role,” adding, “I’m concerned and that I know the city’s all over this. If I didn’t think so, I’d let you know.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, along with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, is unveiling a lawsuit Wednesday against a construction company that did work in Harlem Hospital and allegedly contributed to the outbreak.
