The city is supposed to lead by example
In the late summer heat of Harlem, a preventable bacterium found its way through the mist of a hospital cooling tower and into the lungs of more than a hundred people, killing seven. Patrice Smith, a Brooklyn worker who spent ten days fighting for breath, has now turned his recovery into a reckoning — suing the contractors and institutions entrusted with the very infrastructure of public health. His case joins a growing chorus of legal action asking a question as old as civic life itself: when those charged with protecting a community fail, who bears the weight of that failure?
- Seven people are dead and over 100 sickened after Legionella bacteria spread through cooling towers at Harlem Hospital and a nearby construction site, marking the second major outbreak in three years at city facilities.
- Patrice Smith, 49, spent ten days hospitalized with Legionnaires' disease and is now suing maintenance contractor Nalco and construction firm Skanska USA, alleging they failed to keep the water systems safe.
- Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, backed by Rev. Al Sharpton, has filed a separate suit against Skanska, amplifying the political and legal pressure on both private firms and city agencies.
- Attorney Jory Lange, representing 47 victims, is preparing a formal notice of claim against the city's Health and Hospitals Agency, arguing officials knew of contamination risks and failed to warn the public.
- Both Nalco and Skanska have offered measured responses — claiming cooperation and commitment to public health — but neither has yet answered the central allegation that warnings were withheld.
- With a near-identical 2021 outbreak lawsuit still pending, the courts are now being asked to determine whether this is isolated negligence or a systemic failure baked into how New York City manages its public infrastructure.
Patrice Smith, a 49-year-old Brooklyn resident, spent ten days in the hospital in late July fighting a severe pneumonia that turned out to be Legionnaires' disease. He believes he contracted it near his Harlem workplace, likely from a contaminated cooling tower at Harlem Hospital — a city-owned facility. Now recovered, he is suing to hold someone accountable.
Smith has filed suit against Nalco, the private contractor hired to maintain the hospital's cooling tower, and Skanska USA Building, which manages a nearby construction site on West 137th Street. Both locations have been linked to an outbreak that has killed seven people and sickened more than 100 across Harlem. Skanska is also facing a separate lawsuit brought by civil rights attorney Ben Crump with the support of Rev. Al Sharpton.
Smith's anger is focused on a simple principle: a city hospital is supposed to follow the rules it sets for others. His attorney, Jory Lange — who represents 47 clients from this outbreak — is preparing a formal notice of claim against the city's Health and Hospitals Agency and Harlem Hospital itself. The lawsuit alleges not only that the water systems were allowed to become contaminated, but that no one warned residents, workers, or visitors of the danger before people began falling ill.
The disease itself is unforgiving. Legionella bacteria thrive in warm water systems like cooling towers, which release a fine mist into the surrounding air. When inhaled, the bacteria can cause a deadly form of pneumonia — as the seven deaths in this outbreak make grimly clear.
What makes this case harder to dismiss is the pattern behind it. Lange's firm filed a nearly identical suit against Harlem Hospital and the city's Health and Hospitals Agency following a 2021 Legionnaires' outbreak — a case that remains unresolved. Nalco said it had not yet received formal notice of the suit. Skanska said it had cooperated fully with health inspectors and would continue safety measures at the site, which is slated to become the city's Public Health Lab.
Lange's message to the city is unambiguous: New York should be doing better. The lawsuits now moving through the courts will test whether negligence that appears preventable — and recurring — can finally be made to carry a consequence.
Patrice Smith, a 49-year-old Brooklyn resident, spent ten days in the hospital in late July and early August fighting pneumonia. The diagnosis came back as Legionnaires' disease, a severe respiratory infection caused by bacteria that thrives in warm water systems. He believes he contracted it from a contaminated cooling tower at Harlem Hospital—a city-owned facility—possibly after eating at a deli near his workplace in the area. Now he's suing to hold someone accountable.
Smith has filed suit against Nalco, the private contractor hired by New York City to maintain Harlem Hospital's cooling tower. The Health Department confirmed on Friday that this very tower was a source of an outbreak that has killed seven people and sickened more than 100 across Harlem. He's also named Skanska USA Building, which manages a construction site at 40 West 137th Street that has also been linked to cases in the outbreak. The construction firm is already facing a separate lawsuit from civil rights attorney Ben Crump, supported by Rev. Al Sharpton.
Smith's frustration is plain. "It's bad that it happened at a city building," he said. "They are supposed to clean the building. How did you not know? Why did people have to suffer? The city is supposed to be following its own rules. They're supposed to lead by example." His attorney, Jory Lange, represents 47 clients sickened in this outbreak and plans to file a formal notice of claim against the city's Health and Hospitals Agency and Harlem Hospital itself within the week.
Legionnaires' bacteria lives in fresh water and multiplies in the cooling systems that regulate temperature in large buildings, particularly when weather turns warm. The cooling towers release a fine mist into the air; when people breathe that mist, the bacteria can settle in their lungs and cause a severe form of pneumonia. The disease can be deadly, as the seven deaths in this outbreak demonstrate.
The lawsuit alleges that despite the defendants' responsibility to provide healthcare, the water system at Harlem Hospital became contaminated with Legionella. More damning, the suit contends that before Smith and others fell ill, no one warned residents, visitors, or workers of the danger posed by the cooling tower and its associated water distribution systems. The city had a duty to disclose the risk, and it failed to do so.
This is not the first time. Lange's firm sued Harlem Hospital and the city's Health and Hospitals Agency in 2022 over a Legionnaires' outbreak in the summer of 2021. That case remains pending. The pattern suggests a systemic failure—either in maintenance, in monitoring, or in transparency, or some combination of all three.
Nalco, when asked for comment, said it had not yet received formal notice of the lawsuit and would assess the matter carefully, noting that protecting public health is central to its work. Skanska stated that it has cooperated fully with the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, facilitating inspections and disinfection of the cooling tower at the construction site, which will eventually house the Public Health Lab. The company said it would continue implementing safety measures and communication procedures.
Lange's message to the city is direct: "New York City should be doing better, and we hope they do better in the future at preventing Legionella outbreaks." The lawsuits now underway will test whether the city, its contractors, and the private firms managing these facilities can be held responsible for the deaths and illnesses that resulted from what appears to be preventable negligence.
Citas Notables
It's bad that it happened at a city building. They are supposed to clean the building. How did you not know? Why did people have to suffer?— Patrice Smith, plaintiff
New York City should be doing better, and we hope they do better in the future at preventing Legionella outbreaks.— Jory Lange, Smith's attorney
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a cooling tower at a hospital become a vector for disease in the first place?
Legionella grows in warm water. Cooling towers use water to regulate building temperature, and in summer heat, that water becomes an ideal breeding ground. The bacteria aerosolizes—turns into mist—and spreads through the air. People breathe it in. It's not exotic; it's a known risk that requires active maintenance and monitoring.
So this wasn't an accident. It was negligence.
The lawsuit argues exactly that. The city contracted Nalco to maintain the tower. The Health Department confirmed it was contaminated. The question is whether proper cleaning and testing would have caught it, and whether anyone should have warned people before seven died.
Why sue the construction company too?
The construction site at 40 West 137th Street also had a contaminated cooling tower. Smith may have been exposed there or nearby. When multiple sources of infection exist in the same neighborhood, it suggests a pattern of inadequate oversight across multiple facilities.
This happened before, didn't it?
Yes. In 2021, there was another outbreak at Harlem Hospital. The city was sued then too. That case is still pending. So this is the second major failure in three years at the same facility.
What does Smith want from this lawsuit?
Accountability. He was hospitalized for ten days. He's angry that a city building—a hospital, no less—failed to maintain basic safety standards and failed to warn people of the danger. He wants the city to acknowledge the failure and do better.
Will it change anything?
That depends on whether the lawsuits succeed and what damages are awarded. But the real test is whether the city takes the pattern seriously and overhauls how it monitors and maintains these systems going forward.