November 1, 2023
A Gazette Editorial
As anyone who’s ever heard Nature’s Call while out and about in NYC can tell you, finding a public “restroom” ain’t easy. They’re few and far between, and the truth is, you usually have to find a restaurant, hotel, or a Starbucks that will let you use theirs. Typically they discourage that with signs stating bathrooms are “for customers only” but sometimes, if you ask nicely and don’t look too homeless, they’ll grant an exception.
But it’s not their responsibility to provide toilet facilities for the public. It’s the City’s responsibility. And frankly, it’s inexcusable that in the year 2023 this town still hasn’t figured out that, sooner or later, everybody’s got to go. Now if we don’t want people squatting between parked cars or using subway elevators to take a leak, the City needs to provide public bathrooms. You can take the A from 207th to Far Rockaway and chances are you won’t find a single station along that two hour route with a public bathroom you can use.
Don’t Even Get Us Started on This!
And what about tourists? Imagine a family from the Heartland visiting NYC. They’re already stunned with sticker shock every time they get a bite to eat or take a taxi, let alone if they see a musical or visit a museum. Now we’re telling them they have to buy something they don’t even want or need in order to use a bathroom? Unacceptable! New York prides itself as one of this planet’s premier tourist destinations. We even call Times Square “the Crossroads of the World.” Millions of people visit us and spend their hard earned money here every year. The least we can do is provide public restrooms they can use without spending another twenty bucks they might not even have to spare. This is no way to treat our guests!
The problem, as we see it, is we’re overthinking the problem. People need a place to relieve themselves. It doesn’t have to be fancy, amazing, or high tech. It just needs to do what Porta Potties do: provide a little privacy to quickly take care of one’s business. Many tourists may not know there are public loos in our Parks, at least during daytime hours. The one in Bryant Park is the City’s flagship public crapper, boasting uniformed attendants, fresh flowers and classical muzak. The public bathrooms in the new Moynahan train station are pretty sharp too, as are the johns in the former Time Warner building at Columbus Circle. There are bathrooms in Macy’s and Penn Station, Port Authority and Grand Central. But if you’re not in Midtown or don’t know about these spots, you’re out of luck and that means most visitors are out of luck.
This is a deluxe Porta Potty in the Village.
Whenever there’s a big event in Central Park, e.g. a Global Citizen Concert, the organizers simply pick up a phone and order a few hundred Porta Potties. The company then delivers them and takes them away afterwards. How hard is that? When they’re not being deployed to a big event like that they’re probably available, right? Somebody in City Hall just has to pick up a phone and call them. The company can probably even tell them exactly how many they’ll need and where to put them. They could send trucks around at night to swap them out for fresh ones. Walla, problem solved.
To his everlasting credit, Boro President Mark Levine is actually working on solving this problem (see “You Need To Go“ in today’s Gazette). We wish him the best of luck and hope that he won’t be discouraged like so many have been before him. After all, people have been “going to the bathroom” for well over a century in this country. There’s no good reason why it’s taken this long for NYC to provide indoor plumbing for residents and visitors.
There’s a public restroom in Trump Tower.
Top Photo: A simple solution in Inwood Hill Park.