Mayor Eric Adams Announces Investments To Expand NYC's Public Restrooms And Increase Accessibility

6 months ago

NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced a new initiative to increase the number of public restrooms and improve their accessibility.

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Transcript

00:00 >> Good morning, everyone.

00:11 I'm glad everybody is here on a beautiful, beautiful Monday, the kind of day that gets

00:16 New Yorkers out and about.

00:18 And in New York City, we are number one.

00:21 We actually have the highest number of public toilets per capita in the nation, but that

00:27 still is not nearly enough.

00:31 And so today, we're here to celebrate and mark the expansion of our most critical infrastructure,

00:37 our public bathrooms.

00:39 And to lead that talk and lead the expansion is our mayor, who is the king of livability

00:45 in our city, Mayor Adams.

00:47 >> Thank you.

00:48 Thanks so much.

00:49 Thanks so much, DM.

00:50 It's great to be here with BP Levine, who has talked about this over and over again.

00:57 And if you're a New Yorker, we all know it, the finding available restrooms is a real

01:03 challenge, and particularly if you have children, raising children in this city, it brings about

01:09 an additional challenge.

01:11 And when you talk about improving the livability of the city, it's a holistic approach.

01:17 You cannot just look at one area, because it all impacts of do you enjoy a day out?

01:24 Do you enjoy being able to move around the city and enjoy everything that this city has

01:30 to offer?

01:31 And that's what today is about.

01:32 And I love, I don't know who did it, if it was Sue or you, Mayor, that came up with this

01:36 catchy phrase, "You're in luck."

01:40 You know?

01:41 You know, we love these cheesy comments.

01:44 You know, but what we're saying is that you should not have to be in luck.

01:51 You should be able to move around the city and deal with some of the basic essentials

01:56 of being a human being, a parent, and finding the right restroom facilities.

02:04 So, and we all know the hustle.

02:06 You know, I've walked into many diners and said, "Listen, I'll buy a cup of coffee, man.

02:10 Just let me use the john."

02:12 You know, of having to find a way to figure out the codes of getting inside a place.

02:18 It's just a combination of creative ways just to use a facility.

02:23 And so we're saying no to that.

02:26 You're in luck.

02:27 Israel, over the next five years, in partnership with the Parks Department, we will be building

02:32 46 new public restrooms and renovating 36 existing restrooms across the five boroughs.

02:42 This will add to our supply of nearly 1,000 restrooms.

02:47 And I think Deputy Mayor Mira Joshi pointed out per capita, we do it best.

02:53 And I know that it has not always been the best result, but as long as we keep adding,

02:58 we're going to continue to grow on the use of public restrooms facilities.

03:05 More than 80 of these establishments will be refurbished restrooms.

03:10 There will be, in this entire initiative, 10 in the Bronx, 23 in Brooklyn, 28 in Manhattan,

03:18 14 in Queens, and seven on Staten Island.

03:22 And our improvements will range from accessibility upgrades to energy efficiency.

03:29 So it is crucial that restrooms are places where people can find throughout the entire

03:37 city.

03:38 All of the restrooms in the world won't do anything for us if we can't find them.

03:42 And we can find them.

03:44 That's why we made a new Google Maps layer that you can access on your phone.

03:50 This would allow you New Yorkers to know where to go when they have to go.

03:55 And since even our youngest New Yorkers have needs, this is something that I think is crucial.

04:01 We have already added changing tables to the public restrooms wherever feasible.

04:08 And we accomplished this goal three years ahead of schedule.

04:12 We are also establishing a joint task force to help cite and fast-track approvals for

04:18 our new 14 new high-tech self-cleaning automatic toilets on city sidewalks and plazas, thanks

04:25 to the Department of Transportation.

04:26 I remember last year when we sat down and started talking about this.

04:30 It's good to see it move forward.

04:33 We came in office with a clear mission, livability, public safety, and ensure that we improve

04:38 the quality of life for everyday New Yorkers.

04:41 And access to public restrooms is one of those important initiatives.

04:45 And the new and renovated bathroom will deliver over the next five years, will make it easier

04:52 for New Yorkers to embrace the best parts of this city, our shared outdoor spaces, and

04:58 have a place to go when they have to go.

05:01 So thank you all for coming together.

05:03 Sue, we've been hanging out the whole weekend.

05:05 We're going to continue to do so.

05:08 Let's continue to make this a great, livable city.

05:09 Thank you again.

05:10 Thank you.

05:11 Thank you.

05:12 It is New York City, and we're out and about, all of us, kids, seniors, tourists, and lifers.

05:19 We're on the go, and we have to go.

05:21 But we can't let that stop us from enjoying all there is to explore and experience.

05:27 We all know how challenging it can be to enjoy our public spaces, avenues, and parks when

05:32 you're suffering from range anxiety.

05:35 How far can you go and still be in range of a public toilet?

05:40 This is especially true for our youngest and our oldest New Yorkers, and especially true

05:46 for those New Yorkers who work outside all of the time.

05:50 Solving this is a very real quality of life problem.

05:54 And it's the work of the people on this dais, and I do want to—I had the pleasure of meeting

05:58 Teddy this morning, really congratulate her on her advocacy and for Borough President

06:03 Levine.

06:06 We all want the same thing, more and better bathrooms and better wayfinding to get there.

06:12 So next we're going to hear from our Commissioner Sue Donahue, Parks' leading the charge on

06:18 getting new, better, and novel bathrooms into all of our green public space.

06:24 Thank you, Deputy Mayor Joshi.

06:28 Thank you, Mayor Adams.

06:30 What an exciting day for our city's public spaces.

06:33 At New York City Parks, we know firsthand just how important our public green spaces

06:40 are for building a green and livable city together.

06:45 During the pandemic, we all saw what a vital role our public parks played in providing

06:51 New Yorkers with safe, welcoming places to relax and safely connect with their neighbors.

06:58 And even now that we're back from the pandemic, our public parks remain essential spaces for

07:04 New Yorkers of all backgrounds.

07:07 Every day and in all five boroughs, we see the diverse ways that New Yorkers enjoy our

07:14 public parks and that support our local communities.

07:18 Neighbors relaxing by a fountain or on a bench, swapping stories, teenagers getting

07:23 together for friendly games of basketball or soccer, volunteers planting trees, bonding

07:30 over their shared love of the outdoors, parents enjoying the fresh air with their kids, creating

07:37 unforgettable memories.

07:40 But too often, these moments in our public spaces and our parks are cut short by the

07:47 uncomfortable realization there's no restroom here and I've got to go.

07:52 Well, I'm proud to join Mayor Adams and our partners across the administration to say

07:58 relief is on the way.

08:00 Currently, 69 percent of New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of our over 600 public

08:09 restrooms citywide.

08:11 In fact, New York City Parks is the largest provider of public restrooms in New York City.

08:19 Thanks to this major initiative, we're expanding our public restrooms network to ensure that

08:25 all New Yorkers have access to these vital amenities.

08:30 And since this is the Get Stuff Done administration, I want to shout out some of the innovative

08:36 ways that we're building restrooms more quickly and more efficiently.

08:42 We've developed a new streamlined design for our restroom facilities that make them cheaper

08:47 and easier to install.

08:49 This upgraded design has a smaller building footprint, uses simplified materials, and

08:56 utilizes electric heat instead of gas, meaning no gas hookup is needed.

09:02 This streamlined design is now our standard design for new units across the city.

09:09 Another innovative tool in our arsenal is prefabrication.

09:14 By building restrooms off-site, we're ensuring they can be installed quickly where they're

09:19 needed most.

09:22 Prefabrication doesn't just save time and money, it also means a lot less disruption

09:27 to the neighborhoods when they're installed or to the playgrounds like where we're standing.

09:32 And since they're assembled off-site in a controlled environment, these units can also

09:37 have a higher level of quality control.

09:41 In addition to our own prefabricated units, we're also deploying futuristic Portland

09:47 Loo units across the city.

09:50 These ADA accessible amenities are built at just a fraction of the cost and can be used

09:56 in all seasons.

09:58 I'm happy to say that we began construction on this pilot initiative last month, bringing

10:04 these units to all five boroughs.

10:07 And we're not in this alone.

10:09 We're partnering with our sister agency, the New York City Department of Design and Construction,

10:15 on design-build restroom projects that will construct six new restrooms by the end of

10:20 2026.

10:21 And we've also engaged the private sector to make five new restrooms available to the

10:27 public through public-private partnerships, with three more restrooms in the pipeline.

10:33 At New York City Parks, the cleanliness and accessibility of our restrooms are top priorities.

10:39 And we're committed to ensuring New Yorkers can enjoy their time outdoors with comfort

10:44 and with convenience.

10:46 When nature calls, the Parks Department answers.

10:50 From extending the lifespan of existing restrooms to constructing brand new, innovative public

10:57 facilities, we're making a major investment in our city's living infrastructure.

11:03 I'm so grateful to Mayor Adams, our partners across the administration, and of course,

11:09 our own hardworking Parks staff for their dedication to this important goal, and in

11:15 particular our Parks Capital team, many of whom are here today.

11:19 Thank you all so much.

11:22 Thank you very much, Commissioner Donohue.

11:24 I want to just note also, when our restrooms aren't in our parks, they're on our streets.

11:28 So a big thanks to DOT and Commissioner Rodriguez for all of the public toilets that you see

11:35 around the city on streets, and often outside of parks as well.

11:40 And also for the work about getting things built cheaper and faster.

11:45 We're in Albany right now advocating for more construction tools that will allow us to do

11:51 just that, in addition to design build, which we have, progressive design build, and CM

11:57 build.

11:58 So before the session ends, we hope to make some progress there.

12:02 Next I'd like to bring up the Borough President Levine, who has been an immense advocate for

12:08 New Yorkers, especially those wandering the streets of Manhattan in search of relief.

12:12 Thank you so much.

12:14 Thank you.

12:15 Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

12:16 Excuse me, allergy system here.

12:19 Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

12:21 Thank you, Commissioner Rodriguez.

12:23 Thank you, Commissioner Donohue.

12:25 A special thank you to Teddy Siegel, who has used her voice to create a movement which

12:33 I think we can say is international at this point, to elevate the need for more public

12:39 bathrooms.

12:40 Give it up for Teddy Siegel.

12:41 She is amazing.

12:42 Also, by the way, a very talented opera singer.

12:45 I don't think you're singing today, but you could.

12:47 You could.

12:48 Thank you.

12:49 There's no shame in admitting it.

12:51 We've all been caught out there.

12:53 It's a fact of life.

12:54 When you gotta go, you gotta go.

12:57 That is true whether you are going to work, whether you're a tourist moving around the

13:02 city, whether you're hanging out in a park.

13:05 It's especially true if you are pregnant, if you have little kids, if you're a senior,

13:11 if you have certain medical conditions that require you to have access to bathrooms.

13:18 This is what it means to be human.

13:20 This is a public health question, and it's about the livability of our city.

13:27 And we've been talking about this for decades, decades.

13:31 And if you know anything about local government, you know that creating new public bathrooms

13:37 is fiendishly difficult.

13:40 So it is a really big deal that we're announcing today 46 newly constructed public restrooms

13:53 for parks over the next five years, 36 newly renovated public restrooms in our parks.

14:01 And if you wonder what that means for a park, we're here in Frederick Johnson Playground.

14:07 Look at these beautifully renovated restrooms.

14:09 They're awesome.

14:10 Members of the press, check them out on your way out.

14:14 Shout out to Mr. Wims, who maintains these, and we were chatting earlier, and he talked

14:19 about how this had transformed this playground, of course, by giving the kids and the families

14:25 a wonderful new place to use the restroom.

14:28 And as if all that weren't enough, our Department of Transportation is going to start a process

14:35 to identify locations for 14 new public bathrooms on our streets and sidewalks.

14:43 This is huge, and it's going to be made even more impactful by a new map being launched

14:51 on Google Maps.

14:52 You know something about that, Teddy, don't you?

14:55 That will help New Yorkers know where the restrooms are.

14:59 MTA just reopened a few weeks ago.

15:02 61 public bathrooms, well 62 if you count men's, 122 if you count men's and women's,

15:08 all over the city, in subway stations.

15:11 But most people who ride the subways don't know that.

15:13 So these are going to be on the map, right?

15:15 So this is going to be an incredible service of public information.

15:19 So congratulations to everyone who helped make this happen.

15:24 New Yorkers, you're in luck.

15:27 Thank you.

15:28 Thank you very much.

15:31 Next I want to introduce Teddy, who is a bathroom influencer.

15:37 And like anything, advocacy plays such an important role in government and government

15:43 policy and brings us to days like today.

15:46 So thank you very much for your work.

15:48 Thank you.

15:49 Well, thanks for having me.

15:51 Good afternoon.

15:52 I am Teddy Siegel, and I'm the creator of Got2Go NYC, a social media-based mission dedicated

16:00 to sharing accessible bathroom locations, as well as breaking down the stigmas surrounding

16:06 bathroom access.

16:08 All right, Teddy.

16:12 I created Got2Go in July of 2021 after nearly having an accident in Times Square.

16:20 Since then, my community has grown to over half a million people, and my bathroom map

16:26 is Google's largest and most frequently used map in the world, having garnered thousands

16:31 of locations and thousands of editors.

16:36 Over the past three years, I've learned from my community that New York City's lack of

16:41 publicly accessible restrooms is not only a quality of life and public health issue,

16:47 but it's an equity crisis.

16:50 I am so excited that the city is taking action to tackle this crisis by renovating and building

16:57 bathrooms throughout the city, as well as the new Google Maps layer.

17:04 It is my hope that one day New York City will be a place where everybody has access to a

17:11 safe and sanitary toilet whenever they got to go.

17:15 Thank you.

17:16 All right.

17:17 Thank you.

17:18 Good stuff.

17:19 Yay, Teddy.

17:20 Thank you.

17:21 Thank you.

17:22 Yes.

17:23 Mayor Adams, you could argue one of the biggest criticisms of public bathrooms is that they're

17:28 dirty, they're messy, and people just don't want to go there.

17:31 They're pretty gross.

17:32 You know, with parks cuts, how can we expect or how can New Yorkers expect with these new

17:35 bathrooms that they can stay clean and usable?

17:37 You know, it's great if there's more bathrooms, but if they're gross and dirty, nobody's going

17:42 to want to use them.

17:43 Yeah, and the commission would talk about it, but it starts with us, you know?

17:48 Mom used to say, "Boy, pick the seat up."

17:53 So we need good etiquette, and our practices should be that, "Hey, folks are coming after

18:00 us.

18:01 You want to come into a clean bathroom, leave a clean bathroom."

18:04 But Sue, you want to talk about that?

18:06 Absolutely, Mr. Mayor.

18:08 And it is a core part of our mission, absolutely, to have clean bathrooms.

18:12 We rate ourselves very closely.

18:14 We have PIP inspections.

18:15 Our bathrooms are cleaned on a daily basis.

18:18 We've got incredibly dedicated park staff.

18:21 Our President Levine pointed out, the gentleman here in this playground who maintains the

18:26 bathrooms, it's absolutely a core part of our mission that we'll continue to be laser

18:29 focused on.

18:30 Hi, how's it going, guys?

18:31 How are you?

18:32 I'm good.

18:33 There was a story I read, I think it was about a week ago, about how Rita Joseph was, I think,

18:46 thought there was a need for more bathrooms that are currently kind of in the pipeline.

18:51 Could you guys address that?

18:52 I'm a little unclear on all the details about it, but it seemed to me like there's been

18:58 this call for more, and there's some issues on your end in terms of doing that.

19:03 Can you guys kind of walk me through what the deal is with that and what the ultimate

19:07 goal is on how many?

19:08 Yeah, and Sue, you wanted to touch on that.

19:11 There has been always this well-kept secret among council persons that you fund a bathroom

19:20 in your eight years and it doesn't get built into previous administrations.

19:26 And that's what Sue talked about when she said pre-fab, when she's talking about using

19:31 other ways of self-cleaning.

19:35 There's just been this real stall when it came to building bathrooms.

19:39 It cost a lot.

19:41 It took too long, and it never really materialized.

19:45 And I'm sure the board president will tell, as a former council person, we heard it all

19:51 the time from council people.

19:53 You fund it in your year, and it's administrations after, and that's what we're tackling.

19:58 Is there anything else?

20:00 Thank you.

20:01 So this administration is committing $150 million to new bathrooms across the city.

20:08 And as was pointed out earlier, we're going to have 46 brand new public bathrooms in the

20:13 city in the next five years.

20:16 We recently did an extensive inventory of all our assets across the city, and today

20:21 almost 70% of New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a bathroom.

20:25 What we're looking to do is be really strategic and targeted where we're adding bathrooms,

20:30 and we want that number to get closer to 85, 95% of New Yorkers.

20:34 But this initiative and what we're announcing today is very much highlighting all the different

20:38 ways that we're looking to, as the mayor said, streamline production of those bathrooms,

20:43 make construction quicker, easier, cheaper.

20:46 And so with this investment in our bathrooms, with the work of our great capital team at

20:51 the Parks Department, we're ensuring that there will be more bathrooms for born New

20:54 Yorkers within this administration.

20:56 Two quick bathroom questions.

20:58 One, the city issued a report last year, noted that one of the zip codes next to City Hall

21:05 is one of the three in the whole city without a public restroom.

21:08 If members of the public are downtown, can they use the wonderful facilities at City

21:12 Hall, if they need to?

21:13 And the second question is, there's a bill in the council that would amend the city charter

21:18 that would greatly increase the number of public restrooms.

21:21 You just convened a charter commission.

21:24 Is that something you'd want them to look at?

21:26 Is that something you'd support?

21:27 Yeah, I'm not familiar with the bill.

21:29 We'll look at it.

21:30 I mean, I think the charter commission, they're looking for ideas.

21:34 They're going to be holding hearings.

21:36 And so it's important for these ideas to come in front of them.

21:39 And City Hall is a public building.

21:41 It's the people's house.

21:42 It's not my house.

21:43 And if people need to use the people house for their restroom facilities, I don't see

21:47 why they can't.

21:49 I don't know if it's helpful for background, but for the sites that DOT sites for public

21:56 restrooms, they do currently have five levels of review, which is the community board, the

22:03 council member, the mayor, the speaker, and the public design commission.

22:10 Can we talk about how this takes the pressure off some of these mom and pop businesses?

22:16 They put up signs that say no bathroom.

22:18 We get angry about that.

22:20 But to what extent is that helping them?

22:22 And to what extent are there private businesses that should have accessible bathrooms?

22:26 Well, I think that, first of all, I believe you're right.

22:30 It is not that mom and pop small businesses want to be mean-spirited.

22:35 It is that the bathrooms are for the customers.

22:38 And when you have that continuous flow into your establishment just to use your private

22:45 facility is just unfair to them.

22:48 Everything from paying for water bills to keeping your bathroom clean, the accessibility

22:54 of it.

22:55 That's why it is our obligation to create public restroom facilities.

23:00 And that's why we're doing this.

23:02 And it is imperative that we do the responsibilities.

23:05 We should not displace that responsibility on small businesses.

23:09 That's just unfair.

23:10 And that's why we want to make sure we get it right.

23:12 Yes, yes, yes.

23:15 I just want to add, in this playground, when we looked at—we've done extensive renovation

23:19 in this playground, nearly $20 million investment.

23:22 And as part of that, when the capital team took a look at this space, the restroom was

23:27 formerly located over in an inaccessible corner.

23:29 We moved it here specifically so it was accessible to the playground, accessible to more of the

23:34 public.

23:35 So that's what we're doing as well.

23:36 We're looking at that accessibility, making it so that more New Yorkers have relief and

23:40 can enjoy these spaces.

23:42 There is one other area, our publicly operated private space.

23:48 So those are partnerships the city does with private developers and ensuring that the bathrooms

23:54 that are committed to in those spaces are open and operable.

23:57 And as we go forward, when we make these agreements, ensuring that they also include bathrooms

24:01 is another way we can take the pressure off of private businesses.

24:05 Mr. Mayor, Parks Commissioner, forgive me for going off topic here, but yesterday, a

24:10 police officer and a parks officer tried to handcuff a 12-year-old at Battery Park.

24:15 Do you care to comment on that?

24:16 Yeah, yeah.

24:18 And I saw the video, and this is really the complexity that I talk about when we talk

24:25 about migrants and asylum seekers and the inability for them to work.

24:31 And I think that we look at these individual actions and not looking at the holistic problem.

24:38 That area has received a substantial number of 311 complaints because of illegal vendoring.

24:44 And it's impacting the quality of life.

24:46 We hear it all the time.

24:47 People are calling us and saying it gives the appearance that our city is having a level

24:53 of disorder and anything, everything goes.

24:56 The park enforcement officers must respond to that.

24:59 We have to respond to complaints that are coming from citizens.

25:04 The parent there is a habitual abuser of it, and she has been told several times, and she

25:11 refuses to comply.

25:14 Now, the parks is doing an investigation, and we're going to do an investigation with

25:19 the police department as well because the police responded also.

25:22 No one wants to see a 12-year-old handled in a way that can seem offensive or abusive.

25:30 No one wants to see that.

25:31 And we are going to continue to get better at what we do, but the larger problem here

25:38 that no one wants to talk about, it is not dignified to have people unable to provide

25:45 for themselves.

25:46 We've been saying this for almost two years now.

25:48 Let them work.

25:50 Illegal vending is not working.

25:54 It's illegal.

25:55 And we don't want our babies on the train selling candy.

26:00 We don't want people on the highways.

26:02 I'll drive down the highway sometimes.

26:04 I have to pull over.

26:05 They should not be on the highways with their children on their backs selling items.

26:09 Let's let them work.

26:10 That's the conversation we should be having right now.

26:14 Why aren't we allowing able-bodied human beings that came to America to pursue the

26:20 American dream, parole into the country, why aren't we allowing them to work?

26:24 We will do an investigation and see what we can do better in incidents like that.

26:28 But the bottom line is they were illegal vending because they're not allowed to work

26:32 legally.

26:33 Okay.

26:34 Thank you.

26:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Mayor Eric Adams Announces Investments To Expand NYC's Public Restrooms And Increase Accessibility

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