Would You Like Some Dead Bird in Your Drink?

An investigate report by City & State, the media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and regional politics, has found that thousands of New York City buildings have failed to file timely (and legally required) documents verifying the safety and cleanliness of their rooftop water tanks.

In Lower Manhattan, the report indicates, more than a dozen buildings have gone several years without inspecting the tanks, which hold water used for everything from bathing to drinking. Among buildings that were inspected, several tested positive for biological growth within their water tanks, or the presence of insects or floating debris. In some cases, water tanks showed positive results for the presence of e. coli, a bacteria that can cause cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, or (in extreme cases) kidney failure and death.

The story, authored by reporter Frank Runyeon, is accompanied by an interactive map that shows the inspection status of every building for which there is a publicly available record. This map shows, for example, that the State Supreme Court building at 80 Centre Street had its tanks most recently inspected in 2015, when the tanks tested positive for the presence of e. coli, but then skipped filing reports for 2016 and 2017. The story is similar at the nearby New York County Courthouse, located at 111 Centre Street, where the water tanks also tested positive for e. coli in 2015, and then appear not to have been inspected in either 2016 or 2017.

At 225 Broadway (the Transportation Building, located at the corner of Barclay Street), insects and floating debris were reported in the water tanks in 2015. Debris and insects were also reported at 160 Broadway, 150 William Street, 111 John Street, and Six Maiden Lane.

Sediment buildup (which provides a breeding ground for bacteria in water) was acknowledged in reports for One World Trade Center and 25 Broad Street.

Perhaps the broadest local concern is that dozens of Lower Manhattan buildings have not filed reports for one or more years, which may mean that their water tanks have not been inspected during that period. In Battery Park City, residential buildings for which inspection records could not be found include the River House condominium at Two River Terrace, the Wagner Hotel and Ritz-Carlton condominium at Two West Street, the rental building at 41 River Terrace, and the Hallmark assisted living home at 455 North End Avenue. According to the City & State report, there is no record for the water tanks at Stuyvesant High School (located at 345 Chambers Street) ever having been inspected.

New York prides itself, with considerable basis, on the safety and quality of its water supply system. But once water enters a building, the duty to keep it clean shifts from public officials to the building’s owner. As Mr. Runyeon points out, compliance with laws and regulations about water safety is managed almost entirely on the honor system. The City doesn’t even perform inspections itself — the way that it does, for example, in the case of restaurants. Instead, building owners are responsible for hiring private inspectors, and then passing their reports along to the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Moreover, City regulations allow building owners to have their tanks tested for contamination after they are cleaned and disinfected, and to file these results with the Department of Health.

If this system seems engineered to guarantee favorable results for building owners, you may not be imagining things. As Mr. Runyeon points out in his City & State report, the City has issued only a single fine of $500 for all of 2018 thus far.