Five ‘futuristic' new toilets debut at NYC parks, costing city $1M a pop: ‘A little steep'
The city dumped a whopping $5 million to install five new stainless steel toilets at public parks — even though the futuristic pods sell at a relatively cheap retail value of about $185,000.
The 'Portland Loos' cost $1 million each with 'additional site specific costs' that included related plumbing, electrical and pavement work that went along with the installation, officials said — but some Big Apple residents said the price tag is totally loo-dicrous.
'That frustrates me,' said Bushwick resident Tiv Adler, 29, at Irving Square Park in Brooklyn on Thursday. 'I wish we could reallocate that money to more resources for the public.'
Advertisement
But others said when you gotta go, you gotta have somewhere to go — even though the pod at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon.
'At this point, I feel like we should actually be able to use it,' said Valeria Martinez, 23, who called the initiative a 'waste of money.'
'I think it'll probably take around a month or two for it to be gross, and be locked again probably,' she added.
The new toilets are part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program, according to City Hall. Other sports where the facilities have been installed are Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, Thomas Jefferson Park in Manhattan and Father Macris Park in Staten Island.
Advertisement
7 Five new 'futuristic' stainless steel public toilets were unveiled at parks across the city Tuesday, each costing taxpayers about $1 million per John, city officials said.
NYC Parks
'Let's be honest, when nature calls, New Yorkers shouldn't have to cut their fun short,' Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
7 The jail cell-like pods, dubbed 'Portland Loos,' were doled out to five neighborhoods identified as having insufficient public bathroom access as part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program.
Stephen Yang
Advertisement
'We're proud to be rolling out our new, sleek bathrooms across all five boroughs, which will ensure New Yorkers across our city can soak up more of the sun this summer with friends and loved ones without having to worry about where to go when they have to go.'
7 Bushwick resident Tiv Adler called the million-dollar price tag 'surprising.'
Stephen Yang
The new locations were chosen in neighborhoods that needed some relief with more options for restrooms and many saw the cost as worth it.
'I think public restrooms are a huge issue,' said Williamsburg resident Mike Graffiti, 27. 'Does a million sound a little steep? Yeah … there's a lot of other factors that come into it, where it's just expensive to do things in New York City because that's how it is.'
Advertisement
7 The new Portland Loo in Irving Square Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Stephen Yang
But even the most optimistic New Yorkers were concerned about the cleanliness of the Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon.
7 Astoria resident Valeria Martinez, 23, pointed out that the kiosk at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon — rendering the stall a 'waste of money.'
Stephen Yang
'Will it stay clean? We don't know,' said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39. 'If they lock it at night, it may be, and as long as they maintain it.
'No one [bathroom] is ever that clean,' Verstraete added. 'Plus, with the amount of homeless people that trickle in here in the evening, I believe they close [the park] down at night so that might be a good preventative measure, but I don't think that's going to stop it.'
The 'deluxe' pods include a baby changing station, anti-graffiti walls, angled louvers for officials to monitor criminal activity.
7 'Will it stay clean? We don't know,' said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39.
Stephen Yang
The facilities can also be connected to full utilities for year-round use, are ADA-accessible and are designed to last decades, if maintained properly.
Advertisement
7 The Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon, cost about $1 million per site plus 'additional site-specific costs,' City Hall said.
Stephen Yang
The new potties are part of Adams' June 2024 'Ur In Luck' initiative, which aims to expand public bathroom access citywide with nearly 50 new public bathrooms slated to be built and an additional 36 existing facilities set to be renovated through 2029.
The news comes as a bill passed by City Council earlier this year directed officials to come up with a plan to add at least 2,120 public bathrooms to the city by the year 2035 — half of which would be publicly owned.
The Big Apple only has about 1,100 public toilets for its 8.6 million residents, bill sponsor council member Sandy Nurse said at the time — or about one toilet per 7,800 residents.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
As drones spot sharks, New York beaches are shut down
Advertisement 'We've always surfed in harmony with them,' said Kate Leddington, a longtime surfer who recently moved to Charlottesville, Va., after years in Brooklyn and was on the beach at Rockaway on Saturday. 'There's sharks out there always — it's just now they're using drones to see them.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up On Wednesday, in preparation for the holiday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that state agencies now have 28 camera-equipped drones to search for sharks, as well as 48 trained drone operators. State and city protocol dictates that when a shark sighting is confirmed, swimming cannot resume until at least one hour later. Beachgoers can remain on the sand during that time. The city, which oversees Rockaway Beach, has a fleet of its own operated by the police and fire departments and the emergency management office. Once an alien sight at the beach, the devices have become nearly as commonplace as Jet Skis. Advertisement On Tuesday afternoon, a shark was spotted at Beach 100th Street in Rockaway Beach, according to the Parks Department. Following protocol, officials paused swimming for 1 mile around the sighting area. Twenty minutes after that ban was lifted, another shark was spotted nearby, and swimming was stopped again until 4 p.m., officials said. On Friday morning, two more sharks were spotted on drone footage just off the shore of Beach 32nd Street on the eastern side of the Rockaways, the Parks Department said. This time, officials closed the entirety of Rockaway Beach until 12:30 p.m. By 12:15 p.m., the sharks were still roaming the area, prompting officials to keep the beach closed until 2:30 p.m. A few hours later, a shark was spotted miles away at Beach 113th Street, causing another closure, they said. In a post on the social platform X on Friday, Kaz Daughtry, New York City's deputy mayor for public safety, thanked the city's emergency management department, lifeguards, and operators for keeping New Yorkers safe. 'These sightings were very close to beachgoers,' he wrote in a caption accompanying a video of sharks slithering through shimmering teal water. On Saturday morning, another shark sighting closed yet another stretch of Queens beach. This time, 1 mile of coastline from Beach 86th to Beach 106th Streets was off-limits to swimmers until around 12:30 p.m. after a shark was reported off Beach 91st Street, the Parks Department said. The sightings continued into the evening, when drones spotted another shark about 100 feet from swimmers, prompting officials to close the beach just as lifeguards were wrapping up their shifts, Daughtry wrote on X. Advertisement Then on Sunday, the drones spotted a shark at Beach 102nd Street around 2:30 p.m., leading to an hourlong closure of a more than 30-block stretch of the beach, officials said. This weekend's sightings come one week after a 20-year-old woman was probably bitten by a shark at Jones Beach on Long Island in the first attack of the season at a New York state beach. There have been several other high-profile shark encounters on Long Island over the past few years, though experts maintain that the chance of a violent encounter with a shark remains low. Janet Fash, a longtime chief lifeguard at Rockaway Beach, said she thought that shark appearances in the Rockaways had grown more frequent in the past few years. She attributed the surge to a number of factors, including a newly built rock jetty that has created a cove of sorts near a section of beach where people fish. 'Maybe it's the bunker fish, maybe it's that cove getting deeper and they're coming in,' Fash said. On Saturday, hours after the morning's shark sighting, swimmers and surfers standing under brilliant summer sunshine on Rockaway Beach said they were mostly unfazed by the recent close encounters. Maxence Lachard, 30, said he had been surfing near Beach 86th Street that morning when parks security officers told him to get out of the water. Calmly, he made his way to shore, and when the coast was clear, he went back out. 'No risk, no fun,' Lachard said. Later that afternoon, with beachgoers on high alert for sharks, something emerged from the shallow surf with a blue fin on its back. Advertisement This 'shark' was Baloo, a Yorkie poodle, dressed up as if for doggy Halloween by its owners, Doby Espinoza and Oscar Europa. Espinoza, 31, reassured people that his bark was worse than his bite. Baloo is 13, and all his teeth have fallen out. 'People are safe!' she said. 'It's a toothless shark.' This article originally appeared in
New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
Five ‘futuristic' new toilets debut at NYC parks, costing city $1M a pop: ‘A little steep'
They're flushing millions down the toilets. The city dumped a whopping $5 million to install five new stainless steel toilets at public parks — even though the futuristic pods sell at a relatively cheap retail value of about $185,000. The 'Portland Loos' cost $1 million each with 'additional site specific costs' that included related plumbing, electrical and pavement work that went along with the installation, officials said — but some Big Apple residents said the price tag is totally loo-dicrous. 'That frustrates me,' said Bushwick resident Tiv Adler, 29, at Irving Square Park in Brooklyn on Thursday. 'I wish we could reallocate that money to more resources for the public.' Advertisement But others said when you gotta go, you gotta have somewhere to go — even though the pod at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon. 'At this point, I feel like we should actually be able to use it,' said Valeria Martinez, 23, who called the initiative a 'waste of money.' 'I think it'll probably take around a month or two for it to be gross, and be locked again probably,' she added. The new toilets are part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program, according to City Hall. Other sports where the facilities have been installed are Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, Thomas Jefferson Park in Manhattan and Father Macris Park in Staten Island. Advertisement 7 Five new 'futuristic' stainless steel public toilets were unveiled at parks across the city Tuesday, each costing taxpayers about $1 million per John, city officials said. NYC Parks 'Let's be honest, when nature calls, New Yorkers shouldn't have to cut their fun short,' Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. 7 The jail cell-like pods, dubbed 'Portland Loos,' were doled out to five neighborhoods identified as having insufficient public bathroom access as part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program. Stephen Yang Advertisement 'We're proud to be rolling out our new, sleek bathrooms across all five boroughs, which will ensure New Yorkers across our city can soak up more of the sun this summer with friends and loved ones without having to worry about where to go when they have to go.' 7 Bushwick resident Tiv Adler called the million-dollar price tag 'surprising.' Stephen Yang The new locations were chosen in neighborhoods that needed some relief with more options for restrooms and many saw the cost as worth it. 'I think public restrooms are a huge issue,' said Williamsburg resident Mike Graffiti, 27. 'Does a million sound a little steep? Yeah … there's a lot of other factors that come into it, where it's just expensive to do things in New York City because that's how it is.' Advertisement 7 The new Portland Loo in Irving Square Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Stephen Yang But even the most optimistic New Yorkers were concerned about the cleanliness of the Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon. 7 Astoria resident Valeria Martinez, 23, pointed out that the kiosk at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon — rendering the stall a 'waste of money.' Stephen Yang 'Will it stay clean? We don't know,' said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39. 'If they lock it at night, it may be, and as long as they maintain it. 'No one [bathroom] is ever that clean,' Verstraete added. 'Plus, with the amount of homeless people that trickle in here in the evening, I believe they close [the park] down at night so that might be a good preventative measure, but I don't think that's going to stop it.' The 'deluxe' pods include a baby changing station, anti-graffiti walls, angled louvers for officials to monitor criminal activity. 7 'Will it stay clean? We don't know,' said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39. Stephen Yang The facilities can also be connected to full utilities for year-round use, are ADA-accessible and are designed to last decades, if maintained properly. Advertisement 7 The Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon, cost about $1 million per site plus 'additional site-specific costs,' City Hall said. Stephen Yang The new potties are part of Adams' June 2024 'Ur In Luck' initiative, which aims to expand public bathroom access citywide with nearly 50 new public bathrooms slated to be built and an additional 36 existing facilities set to be renovated through 2029. The news comes as a bill passed by City Council earlier this year directed officials to come up with a plan to add at least 2,120 public bathrooms to the city by the year 2035 — half of which would be publicly owned. The Big Apple only has about 1,100 public toilets for its 8.6 million residents, bill sponsor council member Sandy Nurse said at the time — or about one toilet per 7,800 residents.
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Hundreds of abandoned boats clog NYC waterways, fueling environmental concerns
New York City estimates up to 500 abandoned boats litter its waterways, with a concentration in Flushing Bay. But now, the tide may be turning with the arrival of a branch of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation devoted to the cause. Abandoned boats create dangerous conditions At the College Point Yacht Club, sailors are readying their boats for summer waters, but they say the aquatic obstacles are hard to prepare for. "An inexperienced boater just doesn't know what it takes to keep a vessel in the water," Juliano's Marine Services founder Marco Juliano said. "It just looks dirty. It looks like someone doesn't care." "If the propeller gets tangled up in it, that can be many thousands of dollars to repair," captain Steve Eftimiades said. According to Kathryn Cervino with the Coastal Preservation Network, the hazards are not only navigational but also environmental—marine animals can ingest microplastics and hydraulic fluids from decaying boats. "A boat shouldn't just be left just off the coastline to sit there for years and years, but unfortunately, that's what's been happening in our community and many others for decades," she said. Experts say cost is a driving factor—proper disposal of a boat can cost thousands. Some sailors insist there's no excuse for abandoning a vessel. "They should track down the owner of the boat," Eftimiades said. "It's got a VIN number." NYC Parks Department says its efforts are paying off Nate Grove with NYC Parks says the new Office of Marine Debris Disposal and Vessel Surrendering has removed over 90 derelict abandoned boats in its first year. He expects a new boat turn-in program to begin rolling out by the end of 2025. "It's the first time ever in New York City or State where people can, no harm no foul, show proof of ownership, and we can help them relieve themself of that vessel," he said. Elected officials are taking an interest in the efforts, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes waterways in the Bronx and Queens. "Community members have long asked for our support in clearing abandoned vessels from our waterways. They are not just eyesores for our waterfront communities; they pollute our rivers, harm our local marine life, and create safety hazards for other vessels," she said in a statement to CBS News New York. "That is why I requested $1,246,000 in Community Project Funding from the House Appropriations Committee to support NYC Parks in clearing these derelict vessels from Westchester Creek and Flushing Bay. This investment would show how different levels of government can work together to tackle environmental and quality of life issues." You can email Elle with Queens story ideas by CLICKING HERE.
