In 2011, Zuccotti Park (formerly called Liberty Plaza Park, opposite the World Trade Center) filled up with Occupy Wall Street protesters. Some of the protesters starting coughing and labeled it the “Zuccotti lung.”
 
There are several New York City-named diseases. Another disease in the same neighborhood is the “World Trade Center cough.” Air quality concerns associated with the construction of the Second Avenue Subway were identified in January 2012 as the “Second Avenue Subway cough.” Post-Hurricane Sandy health problems in Queens in November 2012 were termed the “Far Rockaway cough.”
   
         
Wikipedia: Zuccotti Park
Zuccotti Park, formerly called Liberty Plaza Park, is a 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) publicly accessible park in Lower Manhattan, New York City, privately owned by Brookfield Properties. The park was created in 1968 by United States Steel, after the property owners negotiated its creation with city officials, and named Liberty Plaza Park and situated beside One Liberty Plaza. It is located between Broadway, Trinity Place, Liberty Street and Cedar Street. The park’s northwest corner is across the street from Four World Trade Center. It has been popular with local tourists and financial workers.
 
The park was heavily damaged in the September 11 attacks and subsequent recovery efforts of 2001. The plaza was later used as the site of several events commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. After renovations in 2006, the park was renamed by its current owners, Brookfield Office Properties, after company chairman John Zuccotti.
 
In 2011, the plaza became the site of the Occupy Wall Street protest camp. During the demonstration, activists are occupying the plaza and using it as a staging ground for protests throughout the Manhattan Financial District.
     
New York (NY) Times
A Petri Dish of Activism, and Germs
By MATT FLEGENHEIMER
Published: November 10, 2011
The chorus began quietly at a recent strategy session inside Zuccotti Park, with a single cough from a security team member, a muffled hack between puffs on his cigarette. Then a colleague followed. Then another.
 
Soon the discussion had devolved into a fit of wheezing, with one protester blowing his nose into the mulch between clusters of tents. 
 
“It’s called Zuccotti lung,” said Willie Carey, 28, a demonstrator from Chapel Hill, N.C. “It’s a real thing.”
 
Althouse 
November 11, 2011
“It’s called Zuccotti lung.”
“It’s a real thing.”
Posted by Ann Althouse at 10:01 AM
 
Gothamist
Autonomous Occupy Wall Street Faces New Danger: “Zuccotti Lung”
By Ben Yakas in News on November 11, 2011 2:15 PM
Occupy Wall Street released a “statement of autonomy” yesterday (see the full text below) in which they clarify that OWS has no true political or organizational ties: “It is party-less, leaderless, by the people and for the people. It is not a business, a political party, an advertising campaign or a brand. It is not for sale.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that protesters are sickness-less—the NY Times reports that germs are spreading throughout Zuccotti Park, and health officials are concerned. “It’s called Zuccotti lung. It’s a real thing,” said 28-year-old demonstrator Willie Carey.