“Despite regulations aimed at reducing outbreaks, a critical blind spot persists: many buildings with positive Legionella tests or related cases remain unreported, leaving residents, workers, and visitors unknowingly exposed to this silent threat.”

Office towers in Manhattan (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Legionella bacteria lurk quietly in the water systems of many New York City buildings, posing a persistent yet largely hidden health threat. Just this week, local health officials announced a cluster of such cases in Harlem.

Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella, remains underreported and insufficiently managed in many buildings across the city. Despite regulations aimed at reducing outbreaks, a critical blind spot persists: many buildings with positive Legionella tests or related cases remain unreported, leaving residents, workers, and visitors unknowingly exposed to this silent threat. 

New York City’s dense building stock, including hospitals, hotels, office towers, and residential complexes, relies on complex water systems that can harbor Legionella if not properly maintained. Although regulations require periodic water testing in certain high-risk buildings, the system for mandatory reporting and follow-up actions is fragmented and inconsistent. Without universal mandatory reporting of positive results and compulsory retesting after outbreaks or detected contamination, prevention efforts fall short. 

To close this critical gap, New York City must establish a robust citywide framework that includes regular Legionella testing in all high-risk buildings such as hospitals, nursing homes, large residential buildings, and commercial properties with cooling towers or extensive water systems.

This framework must also mandate reporting of all positive Legionella test results to public health authorities to ensure transparency and enable timely interventions. Additionally, compulsory follow-up retesting and verification for any building that tests positive or has associated Legionnaires’ disease cases would confirm that remediation efforts are effective before reopening or continued occupancy. 

This proactive, transparent approach would enable early intervention before outbreaks escalate, reduce health risks, and enhance public trust. 

Emerging PropTech solutions offer promising tools to improve monitoring and prevention. IoT-enabled water sensors can provide continuous, real-time monitoring of water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, and disinfectant levels, which are critical factors influencing Legionella growth. Data analytics platforms can aggregate sensor data, predict risk patterns, and alert building managers or authorities to anomalies. Integration with building management systems can automate preventive actions such as flushing water lines or adjusting temperature settings to inhibit bacterial proliferation. 

Such technology not only improves detection speed and accuracy but also helps building owners optimize maintenance schedules, reduce liability, and meet compliance requirements efficiently. 

If the true scale of unreported Legionella contamination and associated cases in New York City buildings were fully transparent, the public and policymakers might be shocked. Many residents are unaware of the risks lurking in their own buildings’ water systems. This opacity fuels complacency and limits community advocacy for stronger regulations and investment in preventive technologies. 

Greater transparency and mandatory reporting would empower residents to demand safer environments and enable public health officials to allocate resources more effectively. 

Building owners and property managers must prioritize Legionella risk management as a critical health and safety issue, integrating routine testing and maintenance into their operational protocols. Public health authorities should enforce regulations consistently, provide clear guidance, and support adoption of innovative monitoring technologies. 

Insurance companies represent a crucial but underutilized partner in this risk reduction framework. Forward-thinking insurers can incentivize proactive water management through premium discounts for buildings with robust testing protocols and comprehensive water management plans.

By partnering with PropTech providers, insurance companies could offer real-time monitoring solutions to policyholders, creating a win-win scenario where building owners receive cutting-edge technology while insurers reduce their exposure to Legionnaires’ disease claims.

Additionally, insurers possess valuable claims data that could help identify risk patterns and inform prevention strategies across the industry, transforming them from passive risk assessors into active partners in public health protection. 

The city can incentivize early adoption through grants, technical assistance, and recognition programs, fostering a culture of proactive risk management. 

Several cities and regions have pioneered robust Legionella oversight frameworks. California mandates strict Legionella monitoring and reporting for cooling towers statewide, coupled with comprehensive databases accessible to public health agencies. Singapore requires all building owners to submit Legionella risk assessments and water management plans, enforced through periodic audits. European Union guidelines emphasize integrated water safety plans, combining regulatory oversight with technology-driven monitoring. 

New York City, with its unparalleled density and complexity, is uniquely positioned to lead this effort. The city can learn from these examples, adapting best practices and leveraging its technological ecosystem and public health infrastructure. 

To safeguard public health and reduce Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, New York City must enact legislation mandating universal Legionella testing and reporting for all high-risk buildings and establish a centralized, accessible database of test results and remediation status.

The city should also promote and subsidize PropTech innovations for continuous water quality monitoring while educating building owners, managers, and residents on Legionella risks and prevention. Finally, fostering cross-sector collaboration between government agencies, real estate stakeholders, and technology providers will be essential to success. 

Legionella’s silent threat demands urgent, coordinated action in New York City. By closing the reporting gap and embracing modern technology, the city can lead the nation in safeguarding its buildings’ water systems, protecting public health, and restoring confidence in urban living environments. 

Christine A. McHugh is a PropTech and ClimateTech strategist with over 30 years of global commercial real estate experience. She is editor of The PropTech Standards Consortium and creator of PropTech Insights, a weekly series exploring real estate technology and sustainability. Christine serves on the boards of ASHRAE NYC, the US PropTech Council, and IFMA NYC, influencing standards and policies around smart buildings, cybersecurity, and health. 

The post Opinion: Addressing NYC’s Hidden Legionella Risk appeared first on City Limits.

By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Canada will recognize a Palestinian state in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, the latest in a series of symbolic announcements that are part of a broader global shift against Israel’s policies in Gaza.

Carney convened a Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in the battered Palestinian territory. He said it came after he discussed the crisis with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who announced a similar move on Tuesday.

Leaders are under mounting pressure over the issue as scenes of hunger in Gaza have horrified so many across the world.

“The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable,” Carney said.

“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025.”

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Carney said the intention is predicated on the Palestinian Authority “holding general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how much of a condition Carney’s caveat represented — an election in the wrecked strip is not likely anytime soon.

Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

As with France and the U.K., Canadian recognition would be largely symbolic, but it’s part of a broader global shift against Israel and could increase diplomatic pressure for an end to the conflict.

More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a dozen in Europe. Macron’s announcement last week made France the first Group of Seven country — and the largest in Europe — to take that step.

Canada has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.

By MATT BROWN and MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A longtime close aide to President Joe Biden on Wednesday denounced Republican investigations into the former president as “baseless” in testimony to lawmakers and defended Biden as capable of carrying out his presidential duties “at all times.”

Steve Ricchetti, a senior advisor to Biden during his presidency, wrote in his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee that he was willing to answer lawmakers’ questions about Biden’s mental state while in office despite Republicans’ effort to “intimidate officials who served in the previous administration.”

“I believe it is important to forcefully rebut this false narrative about the Biden presidency and our role in it,” Ricchetti said.

“There was no nefarious conspiracy of any kind among the president’s senior staff, and there was certainly no conspiracy to hide the president’s mental condition from the American people,” wrote Ricchetti, who has served as an aide to Biden since 2012. He said Biden was “fully capable” of carrying out his duties throughout his term.

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Ricchetti’s testimony comes after weeks of appearances from former Biden aides as House Republicans seek to build their investigation, which is central to their oversight agenda as they seek to turn the spotlight back to the last administration.

Some former staffers, including Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, and Anthony Bernal, a top aide to former first lady Jill Biden, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions from the committee. Others, including former White House chief of staff Ron Klain and Neera Tanden, former director of the Domestic Policy Council, have answered the committee’s questions at length.

The committee will hear from seven more senior Biden staffers in the coming weeks.

The Trump White House has launched its own inquiry into Biden. In June, Trump issued an executive order that argued there were “clear indications” that Biden “lacked the capacity to exercise his presidential authority” and ordered an investigation into “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the president.”

Ricchetti argued the Republican-led inquiries were “an obvious attempt to deflect from the chaos of this administration’s first six months.” He contrasted it with what he said were Biden’s accomplishments on issues like infrastructure, inflation, climate policy and the coronavirus response.

“I firmly believe that at all times during my four years in the White House, President Biden was fulfilling his constitutional duties. Did he stumble? Occasionally. Make mistakes? Get up on the wrong side of the bed? He did — we all did. But I always believed — every day — that he had the capability, character, and judgment to be President of the United States,” Ricchetti said.

At the heart of the Republican probe is a legal dispute over the Biden White House’s use of the autopen, a device used in all presidential administrations to issue the president’s signature for laws and executive orders. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration allege, without evidence, that Biden was not in a cogent state of mind for much of his presidency and that many policies enacted during his time in office may consequently be illegal.

Biden has called Trump and House Republicans “liars” for the claim and said he “made every single one” of the decisions in office that involved an autopen. Biden’s aides are now echoing that sentiment directly to the committee.

Republicans are still eager to highlight Biden’s various gaffes as a political cudgel against Democrats.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have largely dismissed House Republicans’ probe as a distraction from the Trump administration’s agenda. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said Republicans in the probe “look like losers” after she exited the deposition for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to Jill Biden.

Longtime Minnesota Orchestra board member Nancy E. Lindahl has stepped down from her position as the chair and, with her husband John, gave a $15 million gift to the orchestra on her way out.

The news was shared Tuesday at the orchestra’s final board meeting of the 2024-25 season. In honor of Lindahl, the performance auditorium inside Orchestra Hall will be renamed the Lindahl Auditorium starting this fall.

The board also elected William P. Miller as incoming chair and a slate of new board directors.

“The Minnesota Orchestra has meant the world to me since I was a child attending orchestra concerts at Northrop Auditorium with my parents,” Lindahl said in a news release. “The orchestra contributes immensely to our state through high-caliber musicianship, music education and community partnerships, and we want to keep this cultural touchstone strong and vital.”

Lindahl joined the board in 1998, was named a life director in 2016 and was elected board chair in January 2023. She led the organization through major artistic and administrative transitions, including the arrival of Thomas Søndergård as music director and the announcement of Isaac Thompson as incoming president and CEO.

Next month, Miller will begin a two-year term as chair. He joined the orchestra board in 2016 and has served in multiple roles, including as chair of the audit committee, treasurer and vice chair. The newly elected class of board members are Adam Duininck, Laurie Greeno, John Junek, Clay Rudolph, Breia Schleuss, Katie Simpson, Mimi Stake, Walter Tambor, Amy J. Braford Whittey and Aks Zaheer.

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