When will the city offer public relief?

The bathroom at Louis Valentino, Jr. Park and Pier is unexpected, standing at the edge of the small park across from Hoek’s Pizza. The metal facility is about 12 feet long, with an overhang and a water bottle refill fountain on the side. A somewhat elaborate light system indicates whether the toilet is occupied, vacant, out of order, or cleaning.

At the start of the new year, a light glowed yellowish. The toilet was out of order.

The history of this particular toilet—much of which has been covered by this newspaper and PortSide New York—is long and contentious. Discussions about a toilet for the park began in 2014. According to PortSide, about 40 attendees showed up to a meeting with NYC Parks in September 2014. The toilet that was initially proposed would cost $2.4 million. Eventually, a majority of the attendees voted in favor of a smaller toilet in a different location, rather than on the park’s grass.

In 2018, a toilet for the site was approved, but progress stalled, likely due to bureaucratic inefficiencies (NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Department of Transportation, NYC Parks, and the NYC Economic Development Corporation were all involved in the project). The city seemed to forget about the toilet until November of 2024, when PortSide posted that during the Barnacle Parade, someone spotted the toilet being installed. (Editor’s note: Carlos Menchaca, Council representative at the time, promised that the already allocated $2 million would be used for another project in the neighborhood, but if that ever happened, we never heard about it)

New York City’s public bathroom facilities are a bit embarrassing when compared to those of peer cities abroad. In Paris, there are hundreds of free, stand-alone public bathrooms like the one in Red Hook. London’s “Community Toilet Scheme” pays private businesses to place a small sign indicating that they’re part of the program and their toilets are available for public use. Anyone who’s seen the 2023 Japanese film Perfect Days will be familiar with Tokyo’s stunningly designed public restrooms.

Let our people go
New York City’s dearth of bathrooms has gained attention in the past few years, particularly during the pandemic. In 2021, Theodora Siegel created a crowdsourced account of New York City bathrooms, @got2gonyc, which quickly gained popularity. In a New York Times op-ed, she noted that the lack of bathrooms is due to budget cuts that shuttered public toilets in the 1970s. Since then, attempts by subsequent administrations to increase access to public bathrooms have been foiled by red tape and astronomical construction costs.

The Adams administration attempted to increase the number of toilets via a couple of grammatically incorrect initiatives. In the summer of 2024, the city announced “Ur in Luck,” which promised 82 new and refurbished restrooms citywide over the following five years, and aimed to site 14 automatic public toilets within two years. The city also released a Google Maps layer that showed public restrooms, though it didn’t indicate whether the bathrooms were out of order. Then last summer, as part of “We Outside Summer,” Mayor Adams and NYC Parks announced five new Portland Loos. According to the press release, a Portland Loo (first developed in Oregon) is a “sleek, metallic facility that is easy to maintain and can be installed for a fraction of the price of a traditional restroom.” Notably, the loos cost about $1 million per location, much less than the $3.5 million necessary for traditional public restrooms. Brooklyn’s Portland Loo was placed in Irving Square Park in Bushwick.

Mayors haven’t been the only ones concerned about allowing New Yorkers to go to the bathroom with dignity. In May 2025, the City Council passed Local Law 58 which requires “a permanent, long-term strategic planning process for establishing and maintaining a citywide public bathroom network.” Much of this work will be led by the deputy mayor and implemented by the Department of City Planning, Parks, and DOT. The goal is to have at least 2,120 public bathrooms by 2035. The law was amended a few months later via Local Law 92, which requires each bathroom strategic planning report to include information on the status of active or planned public bathroom projects.

Pee pressure
Mayor Mamdani is continuing the steady pressure for bathroom access. Last month, he committed $4 million to a request for proposals for high-quality modular public bathrooms. The RFP will be managed by NYCEDC, while DOT will determine where the new facilities will be placed. When asked about the announcement, Council Member Alexa Avilés said, “I’m thrilled to see the Mayor moving forward on these public bathroom initiatives. I applaud Council Member Nurse, who championed our Council public bathroom bills and elevated this issue for New Yorkers. Let’s make sure our city is free to pee ASAP!”

More public bathrooms are sorely needed, especially in Brooklyn. According to a publication by the NYC Independent Budget Office, as of June 2025, there were 975 operational public restrooms in NYC—the equivalent of one for every 8,697 New Yorkers. Brooklyn, with just 289 public restrooms, has the fewest bathrooms per New Yorker. The vast majority of the city’s public restrooms are maintained by the Parks Department (more than 800), with libraries coming in second (more than 200).

When Avilés was notified about the non-functioning bathroom at Valentino Pier, her team quickly contacted DOT and confirmed that the toilet is currently out of order due to the winter weather advisory. Its water is drained to prevent it from freezing in the pipes and nozzles.

Despite the bathroom fervor, some advocates remain concerned about the cost of maintaining existing bathrooms. The nonprofit New Yorkers for Parks is running a campaign aimed at allocating $25 million “to hire 460+ additional NYC Parks workers responsible for cleaning, maintenance and repair of parks facilities.” Meanwhile, Mayor Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, moved into Gracie Mansion last month, after which the Mayor said that he hoped to have a few bidets installed. As they say, change often starts at home.