Push for more public restrooms in NYC

NEW YORK - There are only an estimated 1,160 public bathrooms for the 8 million people who live in New York City.  That doesn't even take the tourists into account.

"It is a public health issue.  It's an economic development issue.  It's certainly a quality of life issue," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine told FOX 5 News.

The New York City Council is now considering a bill that would require one new public restroom in every ZIP code in the city.  Supporters say that while public restrooms are often available in wealthy areas of the city, they can be nonexistent in less affluent neighborhoods.

Food delivery workers are among those pushing for more bathrooms.  The additional bathrooms would also give homeless people a place to relieve themselves beside the streets.

The city previously promised 20 self-cleaning sidewalk toilets but only 5 were known to have actually been put in place by the spring.

And there's always the issue of how clean that public restroom is going to be if you can find it.  A viral list several years ago highlighted some of the nicest public restrooms in New York City.

One public bathroom in Midtown Manhattan underwent a $600,000 renovation two years ago. 

The Greeley Square Restroom in Greeley Square Park features four stalls with toilets and rotating seat covers operated by a wave of the hand.  The bathroom is on Broadway between 32nd and 33rd Streets.

There are plenty of rules around restrooms in New York.

A 2019 law requires diaper changing stations in publicly accessible restrooms for both men and women.  That law also requires certain state buildings that are open to the public to have lactation rooms.