Gothamist77%

Second person dies in Manhattan Legionnaires' cluster 33%

By Stephen Nessen66%

7/19/2026, 4:00:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Status Quo Bias, Optimism Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Indoctrination as the most egregious example at 16.4% saturation with 59 hits. Analysis detected 608 faulty-reasoning hits from 360 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 41.9% and a BS Rank of 33% (13,759 of 20,446 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 67.30% of the article peer group.

The New York City Health Department says two people have now died in connection with a Legionnaires' disease outbreak on Manhattan's Upper East Side. 
The department confirmed the second death late Saturday, but also said its data shows a sustained decline in newly diagnosed cases. 
“While we mourn this loss, the data are also encouraging,” Dr. 
Alister Martin, the city health commissioner, said. 
“Our aggressive strategy of testing, enforcement, and remediation appears to have stopped the source of exposure. 
We directed every building with an initial positive test result to immediately clean and disinfect its cooling tower, and every one has completed that work.” 
Officials announced the first death in connection with the cluster on Friday. 
As of Saturday, the Health Department said it had identified a total of 72 cases of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side. 
Nine people remained hospitalized. 
The health department didn't release any information about the individuals who died, including which buildings they lived in or when exactly they died. 
Legionnaires' disease is a form of pneumonia that people develop after breathing in water vapor that contains the bacteria Legionella. 
The bacteria isn’t spread through air conditioners, but rather typically grows in a building’s hot water system and residents inhale the mist in the shower, according to the city health department. 
Legionnaires' disease is not contagious, and isn’t found in drinking water. 
The health department reports those most at risk of the disease are people with weakened immune systems, those over 50, smokers, people with heart or lung issues and people with liver disease or diabetes. 
The disease is treatable with antibiotics. 
The Upper East Side cluster is in the Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods, and is still being investigated. 
The city has ruled out an issue with any building's plumbing system and urges residents in those neighborhoods to continue to drink tap water, bathe, shower, cook and use their air conditioners. 
But it says anyone who lives, works or has visited in the area since late June and is experiencing flu-like symptoms should contact a health provider immediately. 
Those could include cough, fever, or difficulty breathing. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 5.8%Stephen Nessen: 2.4%Gothamist: 2.7%Confirmation Bias5.8%This article: 9.4%Stephen Nessen: 1.3%Gothamist: 1.5%Anchoring Bias9.4%This article: 2.2%Stephen Nessen: 3.7%Gothamist: 3.6%Availability Heuristic2.2%This article: 8.6%Stephen Nessen: 0.4%Gothamist: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic8.6%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.8%Gothamist: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 4.4%Stephen Nessen: 1.5%Gothamist: 1.2%Overconfidence Bias4.4%This article: 5.8%Stephen Nessen: 11.3%Gothamist: 8.4%Framing Effect5.8%This article: 10.6%Stephen Nessen: 2.2%Gothamist: 1.2%Loss Aversion10.6%This article: 15.8%Stephen Nessen: 1.5%Gothamist: 1.1%Status Quo Bias15.8%This article: 6.9%Stephen Nessen: 0.7%Gothamist: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect6.9%This article: 13.6%Stephen Nessen: 4.2%Gothamist: 3.6%Optimism Bias13.6%This article: 7.5%Stephen Nessen: 2.3%Gothamist: 1.7%Pessimism Bias7.5%This article: 1.1%Stephen Nessen: 11.4%Gothamist: 8.6%Negativity Bias1.1%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 2.3%Gothamist: 2.6%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 1.6%Gothamist: 1.0%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.5%Gothamist: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 1.9%Gothamist: 2.1%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.7%Gothamist: 0.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 1.0%Gothamist: 2.1%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 9.2%Stephen Nessen: 1.2%Gothamist: 1.3%Recency Bias9.2%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 1.2%Gothamist: 1.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.2%Straw Man0.0%This article: 10.8%Stephen Nessen: 3.7%Gothamist: 4.5%Appeal to Authority10.8%This article: 7.5%Stephen Nessen: 1.7%Gothamist: 1.2%False Dilemma7.5%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 1.6%Gothamist: 0.8%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 6.9%Stephen Nessen: 3.7%Gothamist: 3.8%Hasty Generalization6.9%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.5%Gothamist: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 3.1%Stephen Nessen: 8.6%Gothamist: 6.4%Appeal to Emotion3.1%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.5%Gothamist: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 4.4%Stephen Nessen: 2.3%Gothamist: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)4.4%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.3%Gothamist: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 3.6%Gothamist: 2.8%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 5.3%Stephen Nessen: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.3%Ambiguity (Equivocation)5.3%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.0%Gothamist: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.2%Gothamist: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.2%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 3.1%Stephen Nessen: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.0%Quote-first Misdirection3.1%This article: 10.3%Stephen Nessen: 3.6%Gothamist: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice10.3%This article: 16.4%Stephen Nessen: 0.6%Gothamist: 1.6%Indoctrination16.4%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.8%Gothamist: 1.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.1%Gothamist: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Stephen Nessen: 0.4%Gothamist: 1.1%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

360 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker16%attributed speech301writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageDr. Alister Martin • 11 words • 100.0% coverageDr. Alister Martin • 7 words • 0.0% coverageDr. Alister Martin • 16 words • 100.0% coverageDr. Alister Martin • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 34 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Dr. Alister Martin

100%flagged-word coverage
59 attributed words100% of attributed speech58% writer coverage
0%15.0%30.0%Biased Writer Voice+20.1 ptsWriter: 7.0%Dr. Alister Martin: 27.1%27.1%Indoctrination-19.6 ptsWriter: 19.6%Dr. Alister Martin: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection+18.6 ptsWriter: 0.0%Dr. Alister Martin: 18.6%18.6%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.