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Finding a clean public bathroom in New York City has long required a bladder of steel and a working knowledge of hotel lobbies. But relief is coming, quite literally.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced this week that installation has begun on 17 new public bathrooms across all five boroughs. The free, high-tech facilities will appear near Yankee Stadium, Cooper Square and other busy locations where reliable restroom access is currently hard to find.
The bathrooms are part of a $4 million pilot program first announced in January. The city selected Throne Labs to install, operate and maintain the modular units, which are already used in cities including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta and Detroit.
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Each ADA-accessible bathroom comes with a flushing toilet, running-water sink, climate control and baby-changing station. The facilities are fully touchless and will be open daily from 7am to 10pm.
To enter, visitors can send a text, scan a QR code, use the Throne Bathroom Network app or tap a physical card distributed by community organizations. The app will also show whether a bathroom is available, provide directions to the nearest one and display real-time cleanliness ratings, meaning you can inspect the throne before approaching the kingdom.
Throne Labs will clean and maintain the units throughout the one-year pilot. Because the self-contained structures do not need connections to the city’s water, sewer or electrical systems, they can be installed, moved or removed more easily than traditional public bathrooms.
The Bronx locations include Yankee Stadium, Admiral Farragut Playground, Mapes Park and Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square. Brooklyn will receive bathrooms at Columbus Park, Milestone Park, Fulton and Truxton Streets and Avenue C Plaza. Queens sites include two locations along Northern Boulevard, plus Astoria Boulevard South at 31st Street and 34th Avenue at 64th Street.
In Manhattan, the bathrooms are headed to Cooper Square, Malcolm X Plaza, Delancey and Suffolk Streets and Plaza Alianza Dominicana. Staten Island’s unit will sit along the North Shore Esplanade.
“Too many New Yorkers know what it’s like to have nowhere to go while they’re on the go,” Mamdani said in the announcement. “We are going to learn from this pilot and build a public bathroom network that meets the needs of New Yorkers in every borough.”
For once, New Yorkers searching for a bathroom may not need to buy a $7 coffee first.