Stink over NYC park potties
Out-of-control crappers a big mess
The Big Apple’s park bathrooms are in totally crappy shape, according to a new City Council study.
Nearly two-thirds of public park toilets inspected across the five boroughs were either locked or plagued with health or safety problems — ranging from urine-splattered floors to litter and no soap or toilet paper, according to a report released by lawmakers Thursday.
Overall, one-third of the more than 100 city bathrooms examined lacked garbage cans and dozens had no required baby changing stations, according to the report, titled “Nature’s Call.”
A total of 40% of the restrooms were also found to be strewn with trash or worse — including many covered with stomach-turning mystery liquids, according to the 19-page report.
Parkgoers on Friday called the squalid conditions loo-dicrous — saying they’d rather ignore nature’s call than brave the putrid potties.
“I just hold it until I get home because they’re just so disgusting,” said Rose Anahlia, a 20-year-old NYU student who lives near Washington Square Park. “It’s just too much hassle.”
Others said they had seen worse — including blood spatter, drug users and folks smoking inside.
“I am disgusted,” said Jennifer Purcell, a 54-year-old insurance company rep from Las Vegas. “It was unsanitary. There is toilet paper on the floor, stuff falling from the ceiling.”
A repulsive job
For the study, council inspectors checked out a men’s and women’s toilet at parks in each of the city’s 51 council districts over three days in July and found many in repulsive conditions.
Some 40% of the inspected johns were littered with trash, while nearly one-fourth had nasty conditions, including “bodily fluids on surfaces,” the study said.
Meanwhile, 10% had no hand soap and 13% had no toilet paper. Just over 10% were without functioning locks, and about 30% had no garbage cans.
Lawmakers said there’s plenty to do to flush out the problem.
“Many of the restrooms would benefit greatly from simple fixes, such as replacing sinks or toilets,” council member Gale Brewer, who chairs the panel’s Committee on Oversight and Investigation, said in a statement. “Others need much more.”
In addition, more than a quarter of the facilities lacked a place to throw away menstrual products, while about 24% didn’t have babychanging stations for city parents of tots, the report said.
“Public bathrooms, just like paved roads, schools or fire stations, are critical infrastructure for New York City families,” said Shekar Krishnan, who chairs the council’s Committee on Parks and Recreation.
“The solution to this mess is clear,” Krishnan said. “To provide the safe, clean public bathrooms that New Yorkers deserve we need to stop cutting and start investing in our NYC Parks.”
The city parks department regularly inspects public restrooms under a system set up in 1984.