Look for Public Bathrooms in NYC on Google Maps

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has launched “Ur In Luck,” a new effort to expand New Yorkers’ access to public restrooms across all five boroughs, including in Flushing. Over the next five years, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) will build 46 new restrooms and renovate 36 existing restrooms, adding to New York City’s nearly 1,000 existing public restrooms. Once all the restrooms are complete, 10 are slated to be placed in the Bronx, 23 in Brooklyn, 28 in Manhattan, 14 in Queens, and seven on Staten Island. The 36 existing restrooms being renovated will receive improvements ranging from additional stalls to accessibility upgrades, as well as energy efficient features. At the same time, the city is making wayfinding to the city’s public restrooms better in time for summer by introducing a new Google Maps layer that New Yorkers can activate on their phones to easily find the locations of every public restroom operated by a wide-range of agencies and civic institutions citywide.

“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,” said Mayor Adams. “Access to public restrooms is high on that list, maybe even number one or two. We’ve already added changing tables to all NYC Parks public restrooms where it’s feasible — three years ahead of schedule. The new and renovated bathrooms we’ll deliver over the next five years will make it easier for New Yorkers to embrace the best parts of this city: our shared outdoors spaces. And our new Google Maps layer will make it easier to find relief when you’ve got to go. ‘Ur in’ luck, New York.”

“Need a bathroom, ‘ur in’ luck!” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Everyone — seniors, parents with kids, anyone enjoying the day outdoors, needs access to a public bathroom without having to buy anything or beg for a code. Public bathrooms are critical infrastructure for New York City, where people are always out and about. We’re making New York City a little easier and more livable, one public restroom at a time.”

The Google Maps layer — which will be updated biannually— will include restrooms operated by NYC Parks, DOT, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the city’s ‘privately-owned public spaces,’ and all three of the city’s library systems — the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Queens Public Library. The city has also created a series of advertisements, available online, which will run on LinkNYC kiosks and on Taxi TVs from June through September and help guide New Yorkers on how to access this resource. Data on the city’s public restrooms will be available on Open Data to enable the public to build their own tools leveraging this data and to conduct analysis around the city’s public restrooms, using one consistent, reliable, and updated data set of the city’s restrooms.

Finally, the city is establishing a joint taskforce — which will bring city departments together under the leadership of Chief Public Realm Officer Liu — to assist in siting and fast-tracking approvals for 14 new high-tech, self-cleaning automatic public toilets on city sidewalks and plazas in collaboration with DOT’s Coordinated Street Furniture franchisee JCDecaux.

Last month, NYC Parks completed its expansion of new baby changing tables to all public restrooms in city parks, where feasible — more than three years ahead of schedule. NYC Parks has opened seven new restrooms to the public in the past five months at:

• Bronx Point/Mill Pond Park, Bronx
• Starlight Park, Bronx
• Wyckoff House Park, Brooklyn
• Frederick Johnson Playground, Manhattan
• Highbridge Park Adventure Playground, Manhattan
• Maspeth Park, Queens
• Lopez Playground, Staten Island

“Today we launch a historic initiative to provide clean, accessible public restrooms to all New Yorkers,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “We will build or renovate over 80 public restrooms across all five boroughs, making them accessible, inviting, and energy efficient. We are also adding changing tables wherever feasible, providing a vital resource to parents. Best of all, New Yorkers will now be able to locate their nearest restroom in Google Maps. Taken together, this initiative will ensure every New Yorker of every ability always has relief in sight.”