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If you’ve ever power-walked into a bodega pretending you’re definitely buying something just so you can ask for the bathroom, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has a message for you: relief is (finally) on the way.
The new administration just announced a $4 million push to expand public bathroom access citywide, with plans to roll out a new generation of modular, self-cleaning restrooms that can be installed faster and cheaper than the brick-and-mortar versions New Yorkers are used to waiting years for.
“Modular” doesn’t mean Ikea flatpack toilets, though. It means the bathrooms are prefabricated units that are built off-site then delivered and installed as complete structures. Because they don’t require deep digging or complicated hookups to existing sewer lines, they can pop up in plazas, sidewalks and parks in a fraction of the time traditional public restrooms take.
Other cities like Los Angeles, Portland and Washington, D.C., have already gone this route, which cuts both costs and construction timelines. New York plans to follow suit by issuing a request for proposals within Mamdani’s first 100 days in office and is hoping to bring 20 to 30 of these units across the five boroughs.
These won’t be your average park bathrooms with mystery puddles and broken locks, either. The new units will use automated cleaning systems that activate after each use, washing down floors, walls and fixtures and disinfecting high-touch surfaces. Doors lock during the cleaning cycle, so the next person walks into a clean space. Some models also include hands-free everything (from flush to sink, soap and dryer) to cut down on germs and maintenance headaches.
The first confirmed site is in West Harlem, at 12th Avenue and St. Clair Place, where a fully accessible, free-to-use restroom with a water bottle filler is slated to open later this year. It’s a small step in a big city that currently has about 1,000 public bathrooms (roughly one for every 8,500 residents), most of them tucked inside parks.
City officials say the modular program will change the math fast, expanding access in high-traffic public spaces where bathrooms are basically an urban legend. That means fewer desperate dashes, fewer awkward café negotiations and a city that finally acknowledges that public restrooms are infrastructure, not just a luxury.