amny.com33%
East Village tenants fearing Legionnaires’ disease exposure are frustrated after going two months without showers 29%
By Sadie Brown33%
7/30/2026, 2:45:37 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Loss Aversion, and Confirmation Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 20.9% saturation with 177 hits. Analysis detected 1,475 faulty-reasoning hits from 847 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.9% and a BS Rank of 29% (15,897 of 22,242 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 71.50% of the article peer group.
Tenants of an affordable apartment development in the East Village gathered on Thursday in anger, saying that they have not felt safe showering since their building’s water system tested positive for the bacteria that causes the potentially lethal Legionnaires' disease more than two months ago.
More than a dozen tenants from Haven Plaza apartments, a Catholic Homes development, called on city officials and property leadership, Wavecrest Management , to better handle communication over the Legionella contamination, expedite the cleanup and provide tenants with safe, alternative methods of showers and drinking water.
Manhattan Council Member Harvey Epstein, who represents the district encompassing Haven Plaza, spoke at the press conference, saying that tenants in the East Village deserve the same consideration as those on the Upper East Side currently experiencing a Legionnaires' outbreak.
“ This is not helpful for residents,” Epstein said.
“They need clear information about what's happening, a timeline to get it fixed and a process to make that happen.
The tenants here are frustrated, and they're feeling like their health is at risk.”
Attention on this summer’s Legionnaires disease outbreak has largely focused on clusters in the Upper East Side with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) reporting 92 people positive tests, six hospitalizations and six deaths .
While outside of the main cluster, Haven Plaza has had two confirmed cases of Legionnaires disease within the last year.
Felix Sicardo, who has lived in the community for 18 years, told amNewYork that he was the first confirmed case of Legionnaires disease on the property almost a year ago.
“ It was horrible: I was short of breath, I was very weak,” Sicardo said.
I waited too long to go to the hospital, so I was very weak.
I actually fell and I could not get up.
So, I called the management office to let them know that I was very sick [and] I had collapsed.”
While speakers and elected officials largely laid the blame squarely at the feet of Wavecrest Management and Catholic Homes, many called on the DOHMH to do more also.
The agency said they were actively engaging with the community and providing accurate and up to date information.
“NYC Health Department has been actively and consistently engaged with Haven Plaza residents since May, when we first became aware of the presence of Legionella, including several in-person visits, clearly posted guidance, and a visit directly from Commissioner Martin who answered questions from residents on Tuesday," a spokesperson for the department told amNewYork.
The DOHMH said that it has been on site and available for questions from residents about Legionella and their risk of contracting Legionnaires' disease.
"Over the past two months, the NYC Health Department has provided regular guidance to residents, including three resident meetings and two tabling events, to answer any constituent questions," the department spokesperson said. "We are committed to holding the building owner accountable to ensure remediation is completed and protect the safety of its residents.”
Still, tenants said that negligence was a pattern from management.
President of the Haven Plaza Tenant Association, Dana Cruz said that following the detection of Legionella, tenants repeatedly asked Wavecrest Management to assist in providing safe water sources for residences.
“ Wavecrest and Catholic Homes continue to refuse our requests for mobile showers, filters, medical monitoring, drinking water, and rent relief,” Cruz said.
“This is all happening even as our water is shut off at times for ten hours in a day with little to no warning.
We have been forced to buy our own supplies throughout this entire process.”
Wavecrest Management and Catholic Homes issued a joint statement to amNewYork.
“The Haven Plaza management team began executing its remediation program for Legionella this week after receiving approval from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
This includes implementing a full water treatment and disinfection plan.
Residents should continue to follow DOHMH’s recommended guidelines and will be notified of any service disruptions.”
It went on to detail that the property managers were required to test for Legionella following two confirmed cases within a one-year period and said, “Management is fully committed to the health and safety of the residents and is providing regular updates to the tenant association.”
But tenants told amNewYork that communication from Wavecrest had been essentially nonexistent.
Tenants said they had not seen postings in common areas or received emails.
Kristin Ankuta, a longtime resident who occasionally hosts her sister Nicole Barbara, who uses a wheelchair and requires other accommodations, told amNewYork that because of the positive Legionella tests, she feared for her sister's safety when she came to visit.
It progressed to the point that following multiple unanswered emails to management requesting updates, Ankuta said she intentionally withheld rent and revealed that she appeared in housing court yesterday.
"I showed up at court yesterday morning with my sister and I said, 'Here's all the rent that I owe you.
Now you tell me what's going on,'" Ankuta said Thursday.
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