Bathrooms for all by 2035: NYC Council votes for more public bathrooms
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Finding a public restroom in New York City has long been a challenge, but on Thursday, advocates celebrated a major step forward as the City Council passed legislation to address the shortage.
The bill requires the city to develop a plan to build one public bathroom for every 2,000 residents by 2035, marking a significant effort to improve access to clean and safe facilities across the five boroughs.
More Local News
Outside City Hall, City Council members and supporters rallied with chants of 'Free to pee, free to pee!' hours before the vote. Councilmember Sandy Nurse, who spearheaded the initiative, expressed her excitement: 'Today, nature is calling, and we are answering it. We are so excited to finally pass this bathroom bill.'
With only one public restroom for every 7,500 residents currently available, advocates say this legislation will help address inequities impacting vulnerable groups like delivery workers, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
A delivery worker at the rally shared their struggles: 'This is especially important for delivery workers across the city, who have to work 12 or more hours a day without access to public bathrooms. And even when we go to pick up food from a public restaurant, we are often denied.'
Advocates emphasized that restroom access is a universal need.
'Whether you are a low-income New Yorker, whether you are street homeless, whether you are a doctor or a lawyer, whether you are commuting to work like millions of people do in the city, you need a public restroom,' one advocate said.
Among those celebrating was Teddy Siegel, founder of Got-To-Go NYC, a social media movement advocating for better restroom access. Siegel began her work after struggling to find a bathroom in Times Square years ago and has since created Google's largest map of public restrooms.
'It's a historic day for anyone who travels to or lives in NYC,' Siegel said. 'The fight for more bathrooms in the city is definitely not one I started, but I'm so proud to be part of this movement.'
Now that the bill has passed, the city will begin planning where new restrooms will be built and how they will be maintained. Advocates hope this marks the start of making the city more inclusive and livable for all its residents and visitors.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thousands Protest in Los Angeles With National Guard on the Sidelines
WSJ's Katherine Sayre reports from downtown Los Angeles where thousands are taking part in anti-Trump demonstrations outside City Hall. Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Disgraced ex-pol Anthony Weiner heads crowded field of NYC Council candidates heading into June 24 primary
Political comeback bids by disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner and a grudge match pitting Republican rivals in southern Brooklyn highlight the 51 City Council races heading into the June 24 primary. The scandal-scarred Weiner is taking a stab at re-entering public life after being sentenced to 21 months in jail in 2017 for sexting with a minor, and he has his eyes set on replacing term-limited lefty Carlina Rivera in Manhattan's District 2 that includes the East Village and the Lower East Side. The 60-year-old former congressman — who was a frontrunner in the 2013 mayoral race before ultimately finishing fifth in the primary – heads a field of five Democratic candidates and admits trying to reinvent himself. 4 The disgraced ex-pol Anthony Weiner leads a crowded field of City Council candidates. J.C. Rice 'I'm trying to do a high-wire act blindfolded over a pond of angry alligators, you know?' he said. 'I got my scandal. I haven't run in a while, and I am running as a different kind of candidate.' The once-rising Democratic star told The Post he's 'not hiding' from his past and insists most voters haven't made it an issue on the campaign trail and that hopes his experience as an elected official will put him over the top. Still, he conceded the comeback bid won't be easy – especially in his uber-liberal district where he's running as a 'practical common-sense Democrat in a time that the party has lost its way.' He said his competitors – which include Assemblyman Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan) and ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio aide and nonprofit leader Sarah Batchu – are too 'far left,' so he's banking on voters seeking more moderate leadership. 4 Weiner believes Assemblyman Harvey Epstein is too far left for most voters. Hans Pennink 'I consider myself a fairly progressive person, but I don't think it's progressive to think it's okay to pay $2.90 to get on the subway while five people are climbing [the turnstile] behind you and don't pay,' Weiner said. 'And I don't think it's a progressive value to spend a billion-and-a-half dollars on police overtime when we could be hiring more police officers.' Epstein hasn't had his own sex scandal, but he did inspire a 'Saturday Night Live' comedy sketch last year that goofed on him running for office while unfortunately having a comparable name to two notorious sexual predators: Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. He didn't return messages. Besides Weiner, three other Democratic candidates are also trying to write political redemption stories by winning back council seats: Andy King and Fernando Cabrera of The Bronx and Ruben Wills of Queens. Wills was bounced from the Council in 2017 after being found guilty in a corruption trial of stealing more than $30,000 in public funds, but the conviction was overturned four years ago. The Council voted to expel King in 2020 following a series of ethics charges alleging he misused government funds and mistreated his staff. Cabrera, an influential pastor who served as Mayor Eric Adams $227,786-a-year senior spiritual advisor from 2022 through mid-2023, came under fire repeatedly while a councilman the previous 12 years for making numerous anti-gay remarks, including praising the notoriously homophobic government of Uganda. 4 The race between Inna Vernikov and Ari Kagan has been nasty. Paul Martinka In Brooklyn's 48th District that includes Sheepshead Bay, incumbent Inna Vernikov is trying to fend off a challenge from ex-Councilman Ari Kagan in the Republican primary. The race has been nasty — despite both being ideologically indistinguishable, including vowing to fight to improve public safety, keep homeless shelters out of the district and combat antisemitism and illegal dumping., Kagan has boasted he's a 'harder worker' than Vernikov, who he ripped as an 'absentee councilwoman.' Vernikov says Kagan is a fraud — a Democrat at heart based on his voting record. Both candidates were previously Dems. 4 Kagan has painted Vernikov as an absentee official. Gabriella Bass As a councilwoman, Vernikov has been a lead voice for Zionists combating antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, helped remove homeless encampments plaguing her district and has fought to preserve neighborhood parking access despite the city pushing an anti-car agenda. Her key endorsements include the city's police officers, correction officers and firefighters unions and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Kagan, who works as a senior advisor to state Sen. Steve Chan (R-Brooklyn), is being endorsed by Assemblymen Michael Novakhov and Alec Brook-Krasny, who represent parts of southern Brooklyn. Other incumbents facing tough primary fights include Brooklyn Democrats Shahana Hanif and Alexa Aviles, both card carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America, and fellow lefty Chris Marte of Lower Manhattan. The far-left, pro-Palestine Hanif began bending over backwards to show support for Jews earlier this year after momentum in her district that includes Park Slope continued to grow for her Jewish opponent Maya Kornberg, who works at NYU's Brennan Center. Hanif was singing a different tune before the primary challenge emerged. In April 2023, she was one of just two council members to vote against an 'End Jew Hatred Day' resolution — calling it a 'far right' idea. And in the days after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel, Hanif insisted in a since-deleted post on X 'the root cause of this war is the illegal, immoral, and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people,' and that 'no peace' should be expected. Although the scores of NYC Council candidates have raised more than $18 million combined in private and public matching funds for their respective races, the Council isn't expected to look significantly different next year with only eight races wide open because of term-limits and many incumbents running unopposed or against political novices.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Early voting begins today for mayor and other NYC primary races: here's what to know
The Big Apple's future is on the line as early voting kicked off Saturday morning ahead of the June 24 primary election — as New Yorkers are now deciding whether the city will take an even more drastic shift leftward. Nearly all of the 11 Democratic candidates running for mayor of the liberal metropolis have been tripping over themselves on the campaign trial, trying to convince voters they're best equipped to take on President Trump. New York City's 5 million registered voters can cast early votes in the mayoral primary and other races citywide by dropping by polling sites through June 22, with the polls open most days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except June 17 and June 18 (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and June 20 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). 3 Former Governor Andrew Cuomo leads the pack of candidates for NYC mayor Matthew McDermott Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo heads the crowded mayoral field, leading in nearly every poll, but socialist Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has been narrowing the gap in recent weeks and is close behind. The winner will be a huge favorite heading into November's general election with Dems outnumbering Republicans six to one in NYC. Voters who flocked to an early voting site at the University Settlement Campos Plaza Community Center in the East Village were split on who they want to see become the city's next mayor. 'Cuomo!' declared Charles Sturckun, a 74-year-old attorney. 'He has managerial experience. You need somebody to stand up to Washington. I go for experience.' But Sarah Schulman, a 66-year-old professor, said she's backing Mamdani. 'I think he's fantastic. He will keep ICE out of our city. I also like his free transportation plan and extending rent control.' Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic consultant, said a Mamdani win would swing the city 'all the way to the left' to become the People's Republic of New York. With Mandani in charge, the NYPD would likely be gutted, social-services spending would skyrocket, and City Hall would be in locked in a futile battle with Albany and Washington to secure funds for the socialist's pie-in-the-sky campaign platforms like free buses and city-run grocery stores, warned Sheinkopf. 'It would be the beginning of the permanent revolution,' said Sheinkopf, adding Mamdani's chances of winning hinge on whether his strong base of younger New Yorkers comes out and votes. 3 Zohran Mamdani has been a top contender for City Hall amidst a crowded field. / MEGA Cuomo would be all but a shoo-in to capture the Democratic line if it wasn't for the rank-choice voting system implemented in 2021 for primary races for NYC posts. Voters can select up to five candidates per race — and in the order they choose. If no candidate tops 50% of 'first-choice' votes, the candidate with the smallest number of votes is knocked out of the race. Then, that candidate's second-choice votes get spread across the remaining candidates. The last-place finisher in this round gets eliminated. The process repeats itself until two candidates remain, and the person with the most votes wins. 3 Early voting in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor begins Saturday. Robert Miller The Working Families Party – which caters to socialists and the Democrats' far left majority – is actively using rank-choice voting to thwart Cuomo's candidacy. The WFP endorsed Mamdani as its top choice in mayoral race but is also calling on voters to select Comptroller Brad Lander second, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams third and Brooklyn Sen. Zellnor Myrie fourth. The party is also urging voters to leave Cuomo off their ballots. Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat not related to the speaker, is skipping the primary and running as an independent in November's general election, as is lawyer and former federal prosecutor Jim Walden. There's no Republican mayoral primary, but Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is the presumptive nominee after securing endorsements from party leaders in all five boroughs. Besides the mayor, also on the line are party nominations for the citywide offices of comptroller and public advocate, the City Council's 51 seats, the borough president and district attorney posts in each of the five boroughs, and lower-level state and city posts. With Lander running for mayor, Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine head a slate of four candidates vying to capture the Democratic nomination to replace Lander. Two long-shot political newcomers – Peter Kefalas and Daniel Maio — are vying for the Republican line. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is seeking re-election and will be opposed in the Democratic primary by Queens Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Wall Street investor Marty Dolan. Gonzalo Duran, a former U.S. Marine, has already locked up the Republican line. East Village voters said they weren't willing to back disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner's political comeback bid. 'Oh no! I have a daughter,' said Aokeeyba Taylor, a 51-year-old building superintendent who voted for Sarah Batchu, a former aide for ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, in the local City Council race over Weiner and three other candidates. 'You're sexting a 15-year-old girl pictures of yourself?' added Taylor, referring to Weiner being sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2017 for sexting a minor.
