1 of every 10 NYC public restrooms is closed, according to new analysis

EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — Anyone who’s lived in or visited New York City may recall times when they’ve needed to go to the bathroom, but when they finally find one, their hopes are dashed because it’s out of service.

The frequency with which that happens may come as a surprise to some.

Alyssa Mendez said that she wasn’t surprised to learn that many bathroom facilities citywide are like the one in the park and playground on 118th Street where she was watching her younger siblings. They were playing in the splash pad.

“They have to use the bathroom with the water and stuff,” Mendez said. When the restroom isn’t working, she added, it’s a hassle for her and her family.

“You have to go more farther to find a changing stall to change,” she said.

The shuttered restroom at her playground is one of 116 citywide that are out of service among the city’s 1,047 public restrooms. That’s according to a new analysis done by the website Gothamist .

It means that 1 of every 10 public restrooms is shut down, for various reasons. Mustapha Camara, who was also at the 118th Street playground, said that the closed facility is an inconvenience.

“We’ve got to use the bathroom,” Camara said. “It’s a park. Everybody should be able to use the bathroom.”

Public libraries citywide also have restrooms available, but some of those are like the Aguilar Branch Library in East Harlem. The entire building is closed for renovations, making the restrooms completely off-limits. Ironically, there are portable restrooms in front of the building, with signs posted on them reading, “For Construction Only.”

David Torres, a neighborhood resident, said that more access is needed, especially in East Harlem. As the city’s interactive public bathroom finder map shows it doesn’t have quite as many facilities available as many other neighborhoods. With restroom closures added to the equation, the neighborhood becomes something of a bathroom desert.

“They should keep all the bathrooms open obviously,” Torres said, “for the public, for the kids.”

The new analysis compared the city’s interactive bathroom map, which it released this summer, with its list of the working status of all public bathrooms. That’s how it concluded that 10 percent of the facilities were out of order.

For its part, the Parks Department responded with a statement: “Parks is proud to operate the vast majority of the city’s public restrooms, and we are committed to expanding New Yorkers’ access to this vital resource. Currently, there are approximately fifty public restrooms in the construction pipeline, and we continue to bring new restrooms online, including recently at Pier 42 in Manhattan.”

Earlier this summer, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city is building or renovating 82 public restrooms.

One parkgoer, who gave only her first name, Yasmine, said that even the open facilities have issues with cleaning and maintenance that leave her concerned about using them.

“I have the lowest expectations for bathrooms here,” she said, as she played with her two-year-old and sixth-month-old sons in a park on East 111th Street. “I try to either…  try the Starbucks and buy something, or, like, be close to home.”

PIX11 News also contacted the public library systems that serve the five boroughs. They said that their facilities are only closed for construction and that those renovations make the restrooms more accessible and appealing.

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