The posh High Line Hotel has tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease – which has killed seven people in the Big Apple so far this summer — and its operator is allegedly refusing requests by workers to warn guests about the outbreak, The Post has learned.
According to union leadership of the 40,000-strong Hotel & Gaming Trades Council (HTC), the High Line Hotel, owned by MCR – the third-largest hotel owner-operator in the US – performed a Legionella test several weeks ago that measured 170 cfu/ml.
When the union asked them to provide proof of remediation, the hotel initially refused but finally relented after an arbitration hearing, at which point the workers returned to their posts. However, the union claims, management threatened to discipline them if they left the hotel again, despite their concerns about unsafe conditions.
On July 23, the hotel again performed a Legionella test, and alarmingly found levels had increased fourfold – to 700 cfu/ml, raising fears among union members that the levels today could be even higher.
According to union president Rich Maroko, MCR has some of the worst records for violations following inspections for the deadly bacteria – which can cause Legionnaires’ disease if infected water droplets or mist are inhaled.
The city is experiencing a breakout of the disease, which has been linked to the cooling towers, which pull heat from water and return the cold water to the system to keep industrial air conditioning equipment cool.
MCR’s four hotels average 2.84 violations every time the city inspects them, the highest rate of any of the 10 hotel operators with the most cooling tower violations citywide.
Since the city started inspecting cooling towers for Legionella in 2017, shows the citywide average is 2.18 violations per inspection – the High Line Hotel received an average of 6.71 violations per inspection, the second-worst results in the five boroughs.
“No one should have to choose between keeping their job and staying healthy,” Maroko said in a statement to The Post.
“Given the severity of the public health crisis facing the city, our union proactively surveyed the entire unionized hotel industry, and while the vast majority have been cooperative and acted in the best safety interests of workers and guests, this hotel has unfortunately been a glaring and disturbing exception,” he said.
“Now that this latest incident has been made public, we hope they will now take any and all steps necessary to ensure worker and public safety is met.”
MCR did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Read the full article here