New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was among 31 buildings on the Upper East Side that recently tested positive for the bacteria causing legionnaires’ disease, according to the city health department’s announcement on Friday, July 11th, 2026. The museum, a distinctive cylindrical structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, has already completed remediation efforts.
The health department ordered all 31 buildings to clean and disinfect their cooling towers amid the latest outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia. The Guggenheim was among 19 buildings that had finished remediation at the time of the report.
City officials emphasized that positive test results do not confirm any building as the outbreak’s source, as the tests cannot distinguish between live and dead bacteria. The Guggenheim Museum was not closed during testing or remediation. In a statement on Saturday, the museum said, “The city has confirmed that there is no additional action needed at this time, and this poses no risk to anyone inside the building,” adding that it employs an outside company for regular monthly testing and treatment of its cooling tower.
The outbreak on the Upper East Side has resulted in more than 50 diagnosed cases, with fewer than 20 people currently hospitalized. This follows a major outbreak last year in Harlem, upper Manhattan, where seven people died and over 100 were sickened. That outbreak was traced to cooling towers atop Harlem Hospital and a nearby construction site housing the city’s public health lab.
Symptoms of legionnaires’ disease typically develop two days to two weeks after exposure and include cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches, and shortness of breath, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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