Quincy News: With no public bathrooms, the Big Apple is now a big toilet

Revelers are freely peeing in public since many bathrooms remain closed to the public. Image via the New York Post.

– News covered by Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

An Upper East Side flat panic room toilet
A meme

With no public bathrooms, the Big Apple is now a big toilet.

It has long been well-known that New York City is not well-known for ready access to bathroom facilities and thus notorious for outdoor relief by some.

Now, however, with New York City reopening in the wake of Coronavirus closures the problem has worsened.

Not only are New Yorkers coming out in large numbers after months of being hunkered down in their residences while many local businesses have contemporaneously been closed, many of the food and beverage businesses that are now reopening have closed their restrooms to the public.

Local bars and restaurants have not exactly been accommodating of their outside patrons given obvious problems discerning who is a patron.

Plus, with fears over the coronavirus still considerable, many do not feel safe using restrooms.

At the same time, relieving oneself is no longer a crime in New York City as in 2017, New York City implemented its Criminal Justice Reform Act and which decriminalized low-level offenses such as peeing in public.

Working at a beer store on St. Mark’s Place, Brittany Spano has seen the Big Apple’s robust social life return, albeit in an abridged form. “Last night, my co-worker saw some guy just coming down the street and pulling down his pants [to urinate],” said Ms. Spano.

Additionally, drink windows selling to-go cocktails and beers have recently sprung up throughout the city, drawing in socially starved New Yorkers who have been sheltering in place for three months.

“There’s definitely been an uptick on this street, from what I’ve seen. But most people at least go in a corner or have friends cover them up,” added Spano.

Additionally, with thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters taking to the streets recently, more people than ever are adding to the stench that is New York.

The lack of restrooms has thus left New Yorkers in a bind, if not also constipated. They want to get out and about but at the same time have to hold it in given greatly reduced access to facilities.

Taking care of business during the Coronavirus pandemic …
A Shutterstock image

“My friends and I talk about [public urination] all of the time now,” said Sophia, a 23-year-old who lives in Park Slope and asked that her last name not be used, told the New York Post. “it’s a big topic. Since the pandemic, I have done it myself … All of the public restrooms like McDonald’s and Starbucks are closed. If you are far away from your home, what are you supposed to do?”

The recently unemployed Brooklyn resident now never leaves the house without tissues. “Sometimes when I am out for a bike ride, I won’t drink water because I know that I will have to go to the bathroom and there are no options. If I am going to meet a friend, I have to think about my liquid intake.”

Time will tell how things will play out in Quincy as Massachusetts reopens.