In a city so beyond filled to the brim with exciting things to do, it’s hard not to notice that the one thing severely lacking is public toilets. In fact, Dr. Wansoo, the creator of nyrestroom.com, came up with a handy map of every bathroom in NYC…but alas, the search for a public bathroom can still feel like finding a needle in a haystack, and always at the worst times.
In fact, New York City has only 1 public bathroom per 6k residents, a number that is far below other major cities and ranks NYC at 93 out of 100 when talking about the largest U.S. cities and the number of public bathrooms per capita.
This past Tuesday, June 28, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine along with Council Member Rita Joseph held a rally to promote their bill that would alleviate this problem.
Teddy Siegel was also in attendance, who gained quite a lot of fame from her TikTok in where she posts about free bathrooms throughout the city.
How bad is the shortage of public bathrooms in NYC? We have only 1 per 6k residents. Far below other major cities.
I’m standing today w/ @RitaJosephNYC and a growing coalition, in support of our bill to create at least one new public bathroom in *every NYC zip code*. pic.twitter.com/QTKV6DEcDj
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) June 28, 2022
The bill would require the city to identify and publish a report on locations for where public restrooms should go in every zip code across all five boroughs, as well as requiring the DOT and Parks Department to consult with community boards about building new bathroom locations.
The agencies would have a year to identify and budget for the bills before presenting their findings to the mayor and City Council by June 1, 2023, according to the New York City Council.
While we anxiously wait for the day more bathrooms pop up around NYC, here are 45 of the best public ones NYer’s have access to now.