Between January and August 2015, one hundred and thirty people in New York City were infected with Legionnaires', but the majority of them were in the Bronx.

[3] Forty-two Legionella species have been classified to date, and these bacteria can grow in areas where there is warm water, such as cooling towers.

[4][5] In January 2015, Legionnaires' disease sickened 8 people near Co-op City's cooling towers in the northeast Bronx.

[6] In an unrelated July and August 2015 outbreak, the disease affected at least 120 people and caused at least twelve deaths in the South Bronx area.

After the cases surfaced, city officials put legislative programs into effect that require building owners to perform quarterly inspections and to verify that the cooling towers have been tested and are free of the Legionnella bacteria.