Here in New York, I am sure that you, like me and many others, have experienced running desperately to find a bathroom and in the end finding it closed or in very poor condition.
To try to improve this situation, this Thursday, Mark Levine, the president of the Borough of Manhattan and Councilwoman Rita Joseph announced that they have introduced a bill aimed at combating the notorious lack of public restrooms.
Something that would be a great relief to Flor Araya.
“In my case, because I’m an older person and sometimes I need to go to a bathroom once or twice and there isn’t one,” Araya said.
This measure would require the city to publish a report on the best locations to install at least one restroom in each ZIP code in the five boroughs, by June 1, 2023.
“It’s a health issue, an economic development issue, a quality of life issue, and many cities around the world are ahead of New York on this issue,” Levine said.
Levine posted a message on social networks with a photo of an existing public toilet in Manhattan that, in his opinion, should be a model to be installed in the rest of NYC.
“This is the public restroom on the sidewalk next to Madison Square Park. This is a proven model here and around the world. We need to – ultimately – implement this citywide,” says Levine.
This is the sidewalk public bathroom next to Madison Square park. This is a proven model here and around the world. We need to–finally–roll this out citywide. pic.twitter.com/3J1SJ0lvca
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 28, 2022
This city ranks 93rd among the 100 largest cities in the country, in terms of the number of public bathrooms per person, according to a report by former Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Early in the pandemic, all public restrooms run by the departments of parks, transportation, the MTA, among others, were closed, and most are still unavailable indefinitely or in poor condition, Levine explained.
Something palpable for several residents we spoke with in upper Manhattan, who have a hard time finding a public bathroom they can use in this sector.
“Sometimes you want to use a bathroom and in no restaurant they let you, in no McDonald’s there are supposedly bathrooms,” said Luisa Ledesma.
“The majority of businesses here in upper Manhattan if they don’t spend something, they don’t let them in,” said Bievenido Tavárez.
“It is necessary that they install it because everyone needs a bathroom before they get home because we walk a lot on the street, we are working from top to bottom,” added Washington Muñoz.
This bill had already been presented to the municipal council, without success. But Mark Levine says he hasn’t lost faith that it will pass this time.
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