NEW YORK — New York City is not only getting more public toilets, but making them easier to locate using your smartphone.
Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday a plan to build 46 new restrooms and renovate 36 existing ones located in city parks, adding to the city’s roughly 1,000 such facilities over the next five years.
The Democrat said the city has also developed a new Google Maps layer so people can easily find the locations of every public restroom operated by government agencies and civic institutions.
“Part of making New York City a more livable city is tackling the little things — the things we don’t think about until we need them,” Adams said in a statement launching the effort, which his administration has dubbed “Ur in Luck.”
The mayor said 10 of the new or renovated facilities will be in the Bronx, 23 in Brooklyn, 28 in Manhattan, 14 in Queens, and seven on Staten Island.
The existing restrooms being renovated will receive improvements ranging from additional stalls to accessibility upgrades, as well as energy efficient features, Adams said.
The Google Maps layer will be updated biannually and will include restrooms operated by the city parks department, local transit agencies and the city’s library systems, he said. Data on the city’s public restrooms will also be available on Open Data.
Last month, Adams’ administration said baby changing tables were installed at all city park restrooms where it was feasible.
“Public bathrooms are essential to a well-managed and welcoming public realm,” the Alliance for Public Space Leadership, a local advocacy group, said in a statement. “They allow New Yorkers to use public space more often and for longer.”
