NYC doubles Legionnaires' inspectors, triples testing frequency ahead of summer ^52.6%

Gothamist - By Joe Hong - 5/9/2026, 12:00 PM

Negativity Bias 25.9% - Framing Effect 12.4% - Availability Heuristic 11.3%

New York City has more than doubled the number of cooling tower inspectors on its payroll since last summer’s deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Harlem, according to new staffing levels announced by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Rooftop cooling towers function as part of a structure’s air conditioning... more

Opioid maker Purdue Pharma shuts down as part of legal settlement with NY and other states ^95.2%

Gothamist - By Joe Hong - 5/1/2026, 7:53 PM

Appeal to Emotion 22.2% - Negativity Bias 19.2% - Fundamental Attribution Error 17.6%

Purdue Pharma officially ended operations Friday, a year after the Sackler family reached a $7.4 billion settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general, including New York's, for the company’s role in fueling the opioid crisis. “Under the Sacklers’ control, Purdue developed, manufactured and then misleadingly marketed its deadly... more

Harlem residents still ailing, still seeking accountability for Legionnaires' outbreak ^0%

Gothamist - By Joe Hong - 4/7/2026, 10:01 AM

Negativity Bias 18% - Appeal to Emotion 17.5% - Anecdotal 14.5%

Last summer’s Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem has changed the pace of life for many of the New Yorkers at its epicenter, and some public health experts have expressed concern over why it happened in the first place and how city officials have responded. Patricia Miller lives across the street from Harlem Hospital and a... more

Harlem Hospital failed to follow its own guidelines before Legionnaires' outbreak ^0%

Gothamist - By Joe Hong - 3/23/2026, 10:01 AM

Harlem Hospital ignored its own commitment to conduct weekly testing that could have prevented the spread of Legionnaires' disease ahead of last summer’s deadly outbreak, according to documents obtained by Gothamist. The hospital’s monitoring system also showed signs as early as June that one of its cooling towers was susceptible to... more