Investigation of over 100 public restrooms found that majority had health or safety issues, or were closed

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council released Nature’s Call, a report on the findings of an investigation into the cleanliness, conditions, functionality, safety, and accessibility of 102 public restrooms within New York City parks. The investigation, led by the Council’s Oversight and Investigation Division in partnership with the Council’s Community Engagement Division and Committee on Parks and Recreation Chair Council Member Shekar Krishnan’s office, found that two-thirds of inspected restrooms (68 of 102) were closed or found to have health or safety issues.

Among the persistent issues observed were the prevalence of litter in 40 percent of restrooms and unsanitary conditions in 23 percent of restrooms. Additionally, there was a lack of garbage cans in 30 percent of the locations visited, and only 8 percent of restrooms had menstrual product bins. The inconsistent availability of required amenities in Parks bathrooms was notable, with nearly one in four restrooms missing baby changing stations. The survey found 30% of men’s restrooms lacked baby changing stations, while 17% of women’s restrooms did not have them.

The full report can be found here.

“This is a topic that gets discussed often, but never resolved,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigation. “Many of the restrooms would benefit greatly from simple fixes, such as replacing sinks or toilets. Others need much more. I urge the Administration to allocate funding for necessary bathroom upgrades. The staff at the Parks Department, along with the Central Park and Riverside Park Conservancies in my district, work very hard to keep the bathrooms usable, but the facilities need long-term solutions.”

“Public bathrooms, just like paved roads, schools, or fire stations, are critical infrastructure for New York City families,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair of the Committee on Parks and Recreation. “Unfortunately, the City Council’s own inspections of park bathrooms across the five boroughs frequently found broken locks, empty toilet paper holders, and wet, dirty floors. The solution to this mess is clear: to provide the safe, clean public bathrooms that New Yorkers deserve, we need to stop cutting and start investing in our NYC Parks.”

Specific Findings of the Bathrooms Inspected include:

Accessibility, Functionality and Amenities

  • Nearly 9% of the restrooms were closed during scheduled hours
  • One in every nine stalls inspected by Council staff lacked functioning locks.
  • 30% of restrooms did not have a garbage can.
  • 24% of restrooms lacked baby changing stations – 30% of men’s restrooms lacked baby changing stations compared to 17% of women’s restrooms.
  • 10% percent of restrooms lacked soap, and 13% of stalls lacked toilet paper.

Health and Safety

  • Litter was observed in nearly 40% of all restrooms.
  • 23% of restrooms had unsanitary conditions, such as bodily fluids on surfaces.
  • 19% of all restrooms had graffiti on walls and other surfaces.

One men’s restroom and one women’s restroom in each of the city’s 51 Council Districts was inspected between July 9 and July 11 during the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The inspected locations were selected based on constituent complaints received by Council Members’ offices and consistently low ratings from the Parks Inspection Program. After adding a weight for restrooms identified in the survey of Council Members’ offices and removing parks restrooms that were out of service or maintained by an outside group, such as a park conservancy, the park restroom in each Council District with the highest rate of unacceptable conditions or closures was selected for inspection.

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