In North Salem, Finding Restrooms for Visiting Apple Pickers is an Ongoing Concern

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - When nature calls in North Salem, it’s not kidding around.

Every fall, hordes of folks eager to pick apples and pumpkins and peep at the colorful foliage descend on the rural town. Those who arrive by train get off in the tiny hamlet of Croton Falls and make their way to orchards located about two miles away. After they’ve done their seasonal hunting and gathering—not to mention drinking cider and doughnut munching—they head on back, bellies and bladders all full.

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While the popular venues do have facilities, sometimes the urge to go doesn’t strike until visitors are back at the train station.

What to do?

Well, they usually make a beeline for the nearest business with a bathroom.

The problem is two-fold.

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One, the toilets are supposed to be for customers only. Two, the Croton Falls business district has no public sewers.

The businesses there are all on septic systems. The extra effluent literally overloads things and pumping out is expensive.

Croton Falls is a commuter stop on the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line. There are no public bathrooms at the station.

But there are on the trains.

So, local officials say, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the service, has copped the attitude that once its riders have disembarked, what happens next is not its problem.

Sometimes, where they “go” is in the station’s elevators, a situation that’s not only gross, but a danger to public health.

And, says town Supervisor Warren Lucas, who often has had to field complaints about the stink, it’s heck on the equipment.

“They rust out and it’s not good for the elevators,” he said.

That’s why the town has decided to get ahead of the curve this year.

It has installed a pod of portable toilets on Back Street, in the same vicinity as the ones that were used during the new farmers market.

“I don’t want to call it a luxury, but it’s something we really have to provide,” said Deputy Supervisor Peter Kamenstein at a recent Town Board meeting. “I think it’s a good thing to do, both for our town and the people visiting our towns.”

One of the two orchards on Hardscrabble Road has generously agreed to foot part of the monthly bill for the new public conveniences. Kamenstein is reaching out to the other one to see if it’s willing to chip in.

The company that is providing the johns promised to clean them twice a week, he said.

They will stay in place until the beginning of December.

That’s a relief to town officials.

“It will make a big difference to the people down there,” Lucas said.

RAISING A STINK

In a related tissue, er, issue, Metro-North has launched a pilot program for customers to report restrooms in need of cleaning in “real time.”

As of Monday, Sept. 23, posters with a QR code that’s unique to each station and train car have been on the walls inside of bathrooms.

Once the code is scanned, it sends the customer a quick and easy survey through which they can relay information about the bathroom’s condition.

That can include: a bad odor, whether the toilet, sink and floors or walls need cleaning, or if it’s out of toilet paper, paper towels or hand soap.

Customers can add additional comments and photos of the specific issues they see.

Once they submit the survey, a system alert is generated and sent to the cleaning team.

If the customer provides their email address, they will receive an acknowledgment and a promise that the situation will be addressed asap.

Metro-North staff will collect and analyze data from the surveys and use it to tweak its cleaning operations.

The program will be available at select stations and train cars on the New Haven, Hudson and Harlem branches.

“This pilot program gives our customers the opportunity to inform us, in real time, if there’s a problem with a bathroom and allows our employees to resolve it as quickly as possible,” said Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi.

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