How TikTok is Helping New Yorkers Find Public Restrooms

For decades residents and visitors have complained about lack of public restrooms in NYC.(Adam Fagen/Flickr)

TikTok may offer a new solution to an old, New York problem

New York City — I once heard someone joke that "a good Relief Map shows where the restrooms are." A TikToker named Teddy Siegel proves once again why there's truth in jest.

Last year, Siegel and her sister were shopping in Times Square. And as most New Yorkers know: asking to use a free public restroom in Times Sq. is like asking for a free "Sorry, our restrooms are not open to the public."

With Nature tapping her on the shoulder, repeatedly, Siegel couldn't believe businesses repeatedly turned her away, saying "their bathrooms were for employees only."

After eventually finding a public restroom, Siegel showed why every problem is but a business in disguise. According to the report:

[Siegel] created a TikTok account to document New York’s publicly accessible bathrooms, posting a video of the McDonald’s where she had found one and making the account public for others who might find such information helpful.

Given that Siegel's McDonald’s video has already been viewed 15,000 times, and her TikTok account has ballooned to 110,000 followers, it's apparent she's provided a great service to fellow New Yorkers.

The "Good Samaritan" Siegel's good deeds, however, end not there. She even uses her account to share locations submitted by others, noting she "gets hundreds of submissions a week."

In short, a Millennial using TikTok to help lighten others' loads captures the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s insight:

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”