I have no idea what the author is talking about. I also have a gastric condition, and a bladder condition. I’m very familiar with public restrooms. Say for instance the ones at the new local Target store - the openings (in lieu of doors) to the men’s and women’s sides are so large and close together you can hear the opposite sex peeing while choosing whether to turn left or right. The stalls have gaping vertical gaps in the doors and the users legs are almost fully visible from the bottom up. It’s so atrocious and not-private that my body actually seized up and I was unable to use the facilities I so desperately needed. I lived in Europe where bathrooms were much more private. I miss that. Except that by the time I was making my exit from the UK the SJWs had contributed to the loss of some women’s facilities at so many locations - such as the South Bank Centre - where men still have their own bathrooms but some of the women’s have been absorbed into the “gender neutral” category. The top commenter here rightly points this out. Women don’t need fewer spaces, we need more. Gender neutral facilities are fine, as long as they do not diminish existing numbers of facilities for women. There are so many reasons why women should not have to share facilities. It would be asinine to make us spell them all out.
21
Clearly you have not had to seek and use any public restroom in Oakland. They are the worst. Broken down at best and occupied (if not locked) by homeless people and/or filthy at worst. I do not suffer the aforementioned phobias but I have never used one of these restrooms nor do I ever intend to do so. Males are luckier - no need to do anything but stand and hopefully aim.
5
In my first post I forgot: if you are in a men's public toilet in France don't be surprised to see a cleaning lady at work in the facility while you're there. This is seen as normal. Same for a woman entering the men's toilets and going straight into one of the stalls. This means that the women's toilets are fully occupied and women have the right to use the men's room. Men very rarely use the women's toilets however. When searching for public toilets, do,n't ask for "the bathroom." This expression is reserved for the bathroom in ones home, where there is a bath, shower, sink and toilet. In Germany there is now a Big Mac-type company, installing, staffing & servicing toilets in railroad stations and other public places. Locals refer to it as MacPooPoo.
5
The cleanest and most beautiful public restrooms I have ever seen were in a small Italian town (it may have been in Sicily, but I am not sure): grey marble all over, sparkling clean fixtures, and stalls wide enough so that a woman could pull down her jeans without hitting the walls with her elbows. All that in a small provincial town, BUT... that was the place where all tourist bus would stop, especially those with American tourists.
A smart investment I would say.
5
Thank you, Social Justice Warriors!!!
2
Are you kidding? Have you been in Tomkins Square Park lately? (East Village, NYC).
2
I agree. Now, let’s talk about bringing Americans around to bidets.
3
Yeah, you’ll never beat Japan. The japanese make an art form out of toilets and public bathrooms
3
I agree in general. But, most of these aren't technically public restrooms; they are restrooms in businesses. America has not only done very poorly in providing public restrooms, we have decreased the number of public restrooms. If you travel the highways of America there are hardly any public rest stops anymore whereas 30 years ago they were a common part of the highway/interstate system. Maybe we can open some of those up again so people aren't getting ticketed because they have to urinate and pull off to the side of the road to relieve themselves.
8
Japan? Please. You want great public bathrooms? Welcome to Singapore.
3
In SLC, all the stores and restaurants have "Restrooms are for Customer Only", or "No Public Restroom" signs because if they didn't they would attract a large homeless contingent.
4
Now if we could only get Americans to flush the toilet. It's such an odd thing and people from other countries have asked me about this. "Why don't Americans flush the toilet?" And if you think bathrooms are ok here- try Australia. As an Aussie friend once said, "Clean free bathrooms are a human right" and they are everywhere in Australia.
5
Around here in California many feel guilty about flushing after #1 because of severe drought warnings we have been under for many years. At home I often don't flush liquid. And in public there is a guilt factor. So nice traveling in northern Europe this summer where low water toilets not exist and flushes sem to last forever!
2
While I agree with Manjoo that it's better to have more inclusive restroom designs, I have to respectfully disagree with Manjoo's preference for the "single user" experience. I have pretty severe ibs and I, too keep a very close eye on the state of public restrooms, having spent plenty of time in them over the years. The single-occupancy restrooms in my opinion are the worst kind. This is because when you need to take your time in such a restroom, a line quickly forms. People will be waiting to go while I'm still in there, and will be for a while if I'm having a rough day. I can't stand that feeling. Moreover, while businesses will label these places as "inclusive" and "all gender" in truth they're usually just cheapy places that have always had only one restroom--they're just using the current trend toward gender inclusive restrooms as an alibi. I would much prefer a more uniform multi-stall experience where I can take care of my business and not worry about who's going to be waiting outside giving me a look when I finally make it out. I could care less if these restrooms are "all gender" by they way, but spare me my solitude, please. I'd rather get it all out sitting next to someone in an adjacent stall than know someone's waiting for me to finish.
6
OMG Farhad, if you ever have the chance to travel to New Zealand, you might think you landed in heaven.
Even the most remote public bathroom is spotless clean as if your mother were just done cleaning. And in a month or so of using almost exclusively public restrooms, I only needed to get paper from by bag twice. Heaven!
5
A pet peeve, pardon the pun, of mine over the years is the number of subway restrooms that are closed to the public. Yes there are a few nice well maintained ones like at the 71st Ave and 74th Roosevelt on the E,F and R line.
If these restrooms are open with few issues then it wouldn't be that difficult to open some of the ones at other stations like the ones at the northbound 6 train at Astor Place which was previously a newsstand.
3
You're joking right?!
5
I just returned from China, Many of their public toilets are just holes in the floor. You have to bring your own toilet paper and there are no grab bars to assist one in rising from a squatting position.
3
True. But restrooms that cater to Western tourists (i.e., at the Great Wall or in museums) tend to be clean, modern and with sit-down toilets. There was a very modern restroom in a Sichuan historical museum that had both flushable squat toilets and sit-down ones. The squat toilets were obviously new and well-maintained. My understanding is that there’s a cultural preference in China not to sit on toilet seat that’s been occupied by strangers, so the squat toilet is probably here to stay.
4
To many places don’t want to finance or maintain clean public (free) restrooms. The wrong people may use them, the poor, homeless etc.
1
When my Dad and I used to go to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto back in the 1970s, the men's bathroom had a 'trough', and you pretty much did your peeing business in full view of those around you. Thankfully things have gotten a bit better since then!
Nowadays, my wife and I are fortunate to have a small camper that we frequently use for long trips -- we always have our own bathroom with us, and all the privacy we could ever hope for on the road!
3
@Vince, I remember when Fenway Park had a trough urinal.
4
New Zealand! 30+ years ago the Kiwis decided they and tourists needed good public loos and improved restaurants. They built both. Driving across 'back woods' NZ one may find a crossroads with a gas station, a bar, and a fine, shiny, clean public restroom, clearly signposted. Cities have loos every few blocks, and we rarely saw ones that weren't clean.
And there are some great restaurants too!
3
I thought this headline was satire! I can’t disagree with you more. I’m a woman and a mom and if I can even find a bathroom in NYC when my child “has to go” it’s a miracle. I’ve seen small children wet themselves in subway stations and on “delayed” trains because there are no bathrooms and see grown men on a daily basis peeing into bottles (which is a step up from between cars or on sides of buildings) on the sidewalk in broad daylight walking my children home from school. I see this every single day in NYC. And for women, it’s a whole different story. I haven’t been to public bathroom that didn’t have a mile-long line. My husband can go but I’m destined to eternally hold it until I get home.
19
Mr Manjoo, thanks for distracting us from the current political circus. I heard Mr Trump is somewhat obsessive compulsive about cleanliness and I wonder it has some hidden meaning......ugh!!!! America, Trump, clean toilets?
1
Stop by any restroom in Penn Station in NYC and then tell me about the state of public restrooms.
7
As usual, Farhad's column is misplaced. There are 2 separate issues here:
- public restrooms welcoming 'any human' regardless of the 'gender' and
- availability of 'restrooms' in America's Public Spaces.
I do not find that many 'commonly available' public restrooms in America. Can Farhad publish a 'sample map' with public restrooms?
I thought, unusual but truth, is what Farhad will speak - that America's Public Restrooms are provided by Corporate America. Whenever I need a restroom in a new place in America; I know Tax Payer Dollars are unlikely to help me. I go and search - Walmart, or McDonalds or Starbucks.
Common on Farhad, we know how hard it is for you to appreciate anything with Corporate America. For you Bernie Bro, American Capitalism can never do anything good; but you are possibly unable to accept truth in America and prefer to live in your fantasy land.
4
Great that bathrooms are getting more inclusive of minority groups. Now if we could just accommodate the majority group, and stop expecting women to carry their own supply of sanitary products around with them everywhere. Don't call a restroom great until it has a free tampon/pad dispenser.
10
You think public restrooms are getting better? Try out the bathrooms in Penn Station and the LIRR.
1
You think public restrooms are getting better? Try out the bathrooms in Penn Station and the LIRR.
You're info re Japan is correct: as with many of life's comforts, the country is a joy when it comes to johns. I've never used one that wasn't spic and span. They're mostly modern Western-style, accessible and plentiful in the train and metro stations, department stores, highrises, and restaurants. It's only natural, considering the masses of people that are about in all these venues.
1
Farhad Manjoon must be a man. Although I applaud and celebrate the gender inclusivity of bathrooms in the US, I have to say this: The cleanliness of bathrooms is declining. I always wondered why men’s rooms had urinals instead of simply toilets. After stepping in sticky pee residue left on the floor by men who leak or miss the toilet altogether, I wish all gender neutral bathrooms had urinals. It really is gross out there.
3
I was astounded to find today in JFK's Terminal Four, between the men's and ladies bathrooms in the B-gate line, a toilet for Pets. Yes, Pets with a capital P.
2
I don't know about that Mr.Manjoo, I went into a brand new Target the other day and had the need to pee. I was told they have no public restrooms and the store employee walked away from me. I am white, 70 years old, dressed in a t-shirt, jacket and jeans and canvas shoes, had showered that morning, used deodorant and I asked politely.
5
To me, sharing a bathroom with someone seems barbaric. I always opt for a single & private restroom if I have an option. Do my business and leave. I hate it when coworkers talk to me at a urinal. It’s so odd. All restroom should be private.
American public restrooms are actually one of the things that makes America great. Ever try to find a public restroom (or water fountain) in Europe? I'll never understand...
I am remembering as a child, in emergencies, finding our way to the employee’s water closet behind the butcher counter in the grocery store.
Think 1971.
The public restroom situation has definitely gotten better!
Well, the rooms themselves might be better, but the stalls in large bathrooms in America are horrible. I just returned from a trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Enter a stall there and the tall door closes with no gaps, the locking mechanism is effective and simple. Enter such a stall in America, and you can almost guarantee a short, ill-fitting door and a lock that works 60% of the time.
It's a real mystery. Better stalls are everywhere in the world. Why can't we install them in the USA?
3
I volunteer at an Audubon bird sanctuary every year that can be quite busy. One of my jobs is to clean restrooms. In doing such, I have learned that women's are generally much cleaner, only needing more toilet paper a good share of the time. The men's, on the other hand, has stuff you don't want to look at in places you didn't think it could get.
This is from a subset of the population that is fairly well off.
I have far more respect for those who clean restrooms in airports, malls, and other busy places. I have walked at least a few yards in their shoes. Imagine doing that all day for the wages and benefits they likely get. That is about as close to an aircraft as many will ever get.
4
I don't think you've spent much time in Florida, except perhaps in the biggest cities. Disabled access stalls are common now, but clean?
Gender-free restrooms are a nightmare for women.
The first one I used had a puddle of urine in front of the toilet. Several seat covers wadded up and swozzled around with my foot, kept some guy's urine from the cuffs of my jeans. Then wads of toilet paper for the top of the seat, the underside of the seat, and more for the porcelain before I could use the toilet. Except for the puddle, this has been happening over and over, when it's a gender-free restroom.
I recently read a review of a book of essays, one of which reportedly sneered at cis-women for being kind, caring about their appearance, and doing unpaid work (like cleaning the kitchen at the office, I guess.) Well, this is a whole new kind of unpaid work we're doing, so that some people don't have to decide if they want to use the men's or women's restrooms, is that it?
7
Not only did I enjoy reading this column, but I appreciate the comments below. I hope those responsible for public access bathrooms pay attention in order to make changes across the U.S. Here in Singapore I've never had an issue finding a restroom - particularly on the MRT line stations. All are easy to find , always have toilet paper available, and are clean. This is only one of the infrastructure miracles that places across the U.S. could learn from. In the Metro System for the D.C. area nothing could be found and that made public transport prohibitive for so many people.
1
I went to Japan earlier this year. Restroom quality in the US is not even close to what they have there.
I’ve actually noticed it since the 1990s: somehow there’s an ethos in most establishments to keep the restrooms clean. In the trendier places I have seen designs that I would like in my own apartment.
Another thing that has gotten better is the cleanliness of public parks. You actually have to look to find litter in many of them.
A good end-of-year column. Thanks.
Uplifting piece, thank you.
The cleanest, roomiest, most private, most comfortable "rest rooms" anywhere, are in Paris - upscale hotels, restaurants, department stores & railroad stations. You just have to know which ones and the verbal code for access. I have compiled a List which sells for a very reasonable price. When you are searching for "The Loo" look overhead and you will often see a sign with large letters and an arrow saying "Toilets" unlike in the U.S., where toilet whereabouts are a secret and when you ask for them, the other person reacts with surprise, as if you are the first in history to ask for a toilet. Foreigners need to understand that in the US the word "toilet" is a taboo. Future expats heading for a U.S. assignment must learn words like men's room, ladies' room, rest rooms and - most hilarious - "comfort station." Americans seem to think that if they say the word "toilet" their mouthes become contaminated.
1
Yes, but please stop calling them “Bathrooms”. I have never seen a bath in these places.
I have seen toilets in all of them, and that is what they should be called.
3
I'll take good news in the NY Times opinion section wherever I can get it. Having just seen that Jared Kushner was deemed worthy of an opinion piece on these pages, it's good to see a much more palatable piece.
I'm old enough to remember when pay toilets were common. The positive change is noticable. Being number one in inclusive public facilities designed to handle number one and number two is not nothing. Go USA.
Best wishes Mr. Manjoo with your challenges.
2
dear NY Times, I remember standing on line at a theatre in Lincoln centre during an intermission. I really needed to do an urgent number 2, and there was a big line.
When it finally was my turn, the embarrassment overshadowed my relief.
I'm Franco-American and I have never understood how America - a protestant and puritan country could provide public toilets where there is half an inch of space where the door closes open to the viewers, and over a foot on both ends of the door within earshot of everyone! I did not make eye contact with any ladies as I walked out.
5
The public bathrooms at The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos are amazing. Spotless, perfumed and climate controlled. Your welcome.
I think this is a more difficult issue for women
14
What is a "cisgender person of social privilege"? What are those words(?) supposed to mean?
8
as a teeny tiny bladder woman, I am also aware of where all the bathrooms are. I don't need privacy, though, so I haven't really noticed the difference but now that you mention it.....
2
Couldn't agree more.. when our NC neighbors passed their infamous "bathroom bill", it spawned a huge increase in gender-neutral restrooms across all kinds of businesses here in South Carolina. They just didn't want to be part of the debate, so this was a simple way around it.
Why on earth are we straining to hold our business when there's a perfectly good empty restroom right there, albeit with the wrong gender sign on it? It's high time...
2
My favorite Non-Gender restroom iconographic sign displays the following:
A Man; A Wonan; A Man/Woman and an Alien.
The text reads- “Whatever, just please wash your hands”.
6
The "gender inclusive" communal bathrooms (which are what the vast majority of bathrooms are) discussed here conveniently sidestep women's concerns with sharing private space with males. But it's working out for you, Farhad, so I guess that's the end of the inquiry.
3
Female here. I will go in a men's loo if the line is too long at the women's loos. Twice in the past month I have gone in the ladies while a man was cleaning it. Seriously, what is the issue? If I need to go I need to go and I don't care who I am sharing a bathroom with. We are not sharing a stall just a room.
As Americans, we know that health care rationed by private insurance companies provided by one's employer is far superior to health care rationed by government health insurance, that is until we retire and have no employer. Thus, it is small wonder we take the same approach to public restrooms. Perhaps if we had kept the name our colonial forbears employed for the loo, to wit the "Necessary Room", we might have a different approach. I travel a lot and know Mr. Manjoo is correct that public rest rooms have improved. The armed forces having been made all volunteer leaving the public rest room as the last venue where Americans of all political, racial, ethnic and social classes can mix, our democracy is truly in the toilet.
2
First, my sympathies on your condition. Second, I am not a fan of all-gender toilets as men still leave the toilet seat up. Third, that electric eye that flushes sometimes doesn't. Look over your shoulder and if it has not flushed, please push the button and do it.
5
Yeah right?
Go to Newark liberty Airport. Terminal C. The bathrooms are a mess. Broken doors, messy stalls, inadequate facilities.
You cannot walk thru the corridors to your gate because of all the overflowing retail/food seating.
But the bathrooms are deplorable. International world class no way. The airport restrooms in Zimbabwe were better.
Shame on the Port Authority.
2
An interesting op-ed that puts much more in perspective than restrooms.
1
Thanks for the good column. I had been vaguely aware of this, but yes, the restrooms are getting better, and maybe we can expect more improvements.
People now spew their graffitti on the internet instead of the bathroom walls. Sad.
4
I'd like to know why almost all restroom doors open inward. That means (a) you have to grab a public handle after washing your hands and (b) if there's a fire in the restroom, the door could get stuck closed by people piling up against it.
3
Finally, good news.
(I recall many years ago trying to use the men's urinal at the FtWorth/Dallas airport and found them placed so high that only tall Texans - 6'6" - could possibly use them. Thought it must be some kind of sick joke by the builders. Perhaps since then they've been lowered so that average height males [ 5'8" ] can now use them). (Also, years ago, I dreaded visiting NYC due to sparcity of public restrooms. Perhaps that's been fixed also).
1
Is this a new beginning for the NYT, praise for something that's getting better in America? Even if it's only bathrooms, it's a start. Good work, Mr. Manjoo, for finding something positive to say! Next thing you know you'll be saying something nice about Mr. Trump.
Their open restrooms are the strongest justification for Starbucks.
The lockable, single-occupancy, all-gender restroom, respects everyone's privacy. You do not have to have any special need to prefer a bathroom for one. Let's hope they become the standard.
3
I hate that many places equate inclusion with ripping out urinals from men’s rooms. They are simply the most effective way for men to relieve themselves. They are quick and convenient. Leave them in place.
4
This was a great article, and I very much agree with the premise. I travel a lot via car for work and with kids. Gas station bathrooms have really been upgraded in many places. During my childbearing years I had severe endometriosis/adenomyosis which meant bathroom stops to change products every hour, sometimes for days at a time. I would really have appreciated the privacy and cleanliness that I see at bathrooms now!
I noticed when I shopped L S Ayers in Indy as a high schooler that the public restrooms were very nice, and in my shopping and needs to have public bathrooms accessible in the nearly 60 years since then, the public bathrooms are one of the skiing examples of capitalism. Can't lure people out onto the roads without public bathrooms --nice ones-- in gas stations. And certainly not in eating establishments where the nice bathrooms were the expected accommodation. And finally, shopping in malls and stores where often hours are spent is de rigueur.
Amazingly, this article has everything backwards!
I have no opinion as to travel but if the author is complaining about having a free standing box on the street, then NO, there aren't any, Thank Goodness!
This article seems to take a position that doesn't exist to promote a lesser situation than now exists! Unbelievable!!
1
I am one of those people with a frequent urination problem and none of the pills advertised on TV work for me. About ten years ago I was driving from Wales to London and really had to go. I drove for miles and miles and there was nothing. I finally pulled over and squatted behind a hedgerow. All of a sudden a man came running out of nowhere, yelling. I had been caught on camera.
3
When you need that quick restroom stop, I have learned the best and worst places along my routes. Best public restrooms are on the Ohio Turnpike which are modern and kept clean, worst are in rural areas on I-75 such as Georgia. I recommend going to a fast-food restaurant instead - and buy yourself a drink as a customer. Many truck stops have been updated and are more likely than not to be cleaner and better than a gas station. If you are walking in an urban setting, you can duck in discreetly into a hotel lobby or stop at a restaurant for a coffee and use the facility. I find planning ahead and scoping it out helps before you have an urgent need.
When you need that quick restroom stop, I have learned the best and worst places along my routes. Best public restrooms are on the Ohio Turnpike which are modern and kept clean, worst are in rural areas on I-75 such as Georgia. I recommend going to a fast-food restaurant instead - and buy yourself a drink as a customer. Many truck stops have been updated and are more likely than not cleaner and better than a gas station. If you are walking in an urban setting, you can duck in discreetly into a hotel lobby or stop at a restaurant for a coffee and use the facility. I find planning ahead and scoping it out helps before you have an urgent need.
Disabled person here. Despite what the author intimates, there is no increased availability of public restrooms for our use. If anything, the "family bathrooms" that had been used by disabled persons are now being used by trans persons. This means less availability by people who are in desperate need of them. Conflating disabled people with any other group is just wrong. The poverty rate (and unemployment rate) for persons with disabilities are sky high. We have our own societal needs that need redress--conflating them with someone else's (to make a cheap point) does persons with disabilities a huge disservice.
11
@Uncommon Wisdom "family and assisted use toilet rooms", and accessible stalls and fixtures in general public toilet rooms are intended to accommodate you, not be reserved for your exclusive use. For decades I have worked on accessibly issues in design and construction and this "just for me and nobody else" attitude, that I encounter repeatedly, does more damage to the cause than you can imagine. A trans individual, seeking some privacy or a parent with two kids, one in diapers, both in a stroller, feel just as accessibility limited as do you. Its a cooperative effort here, not a competitive sport.
11
@ ”feel just as accessibility limited as do you.”
Handicap people don’t just feel accessibility limit. We are accessibility limited these facilities were created for us and there’s been a continual encroachment of spaces created for handicap people by the trans community. This is a lot like people using handicap parking because they feel they deserve it. There’s a difference between ”want” and ”need.”
4
I left the USA for Europe 50 years ago. I had been warned by traveling parents about France, so was appalled but not surprised. The situation has improved though can still be patchy. I never go out with out Kleenex in my pocket. England however was wonderful. Impeccable public toilets everywhere. What a treat. Unfortunately, it's been all downhill since then. In the wake of Thatcher, austerity also struck the WC, and we are left hoping for the best like everywhere else.
5
And oh how lucky we are to have generally clean and safe sanitation facilities in the developed world. When one thinks of the millions of poor women and girls in rural areas of India, Africa and other developing nations, who, when seeking a place to relieve themselves outside, particularly after dark, can be vulnerable to sexual assault and worse. Every human being deserves the right to a place of privacy, dignity and safety when carrying out this basic physiological need.
12
We visited California, Texas, Louisiana, New York and Boston a couple of years ago. In general we found the bathroom situation appalling. In reading these interesting comments the contrast between a belief in public state or city provided stand alone facilities as we have in New Zealand, and what seems to be a general acceptance that businesses might provide something if they see a buck in it, is fascinating. and in practice it was very uncomfortable at times. I have a clear memory of desperate relief behind a very thin bush at Redondo beach. That's no way for a city to treat people!
5
I find that quite surprising. As a kid in the 1970s and 1980s there were many, many sketchy gas station bathrooms. Once I became the driver I quickly learned to look for a few of the larger brand name stations with reliable, clean facilities.
But now that's the norm - other than a rare rural station with no competition, they are just very much improved.
Much of Europe has improved as well, though I still find the occasional missing toilet seat that was so rampant 20 years ago.
And then there is Asia.
I haven't made it to New Zealand, though hoping to soon.
1
Thank you for this piece. I agree that public toilets have become less odious (and odiferous) than they used to be. But I am unhappy to see that it is people of color who still tend to be the ones who are keeping public toilets clean. I have no answer as to how that can be changed, but to this public toilet user, this remains an unfortunate reality.
6
On a side issue, did you keep track of how many times you had to flush? Because while we may not be able to set standards for reducing carbon dioxide from cars, we might get some government action on this key issue.
8
I've traveled to a lot of places in Asia, and definitely enjoy a nice public loo whenever I make a trip to the States. Tops in cleanliness!
Virtually every men's public restroom here in China smells of wee and cigarette smoke, squatty potties are the norm, and I've had occasion to negotiate a couple of buckets set behind a barrier, braising under a tropical sun.
However, nothing beats those lovely toilets in the Tokyo airport with the electronically controlled bidet. The perfect temperature and pressure at your fingertips. Pure heaven!
13
@emsique
All over Japan, not just the airport.
I was similarly impressed last year on a trip to China - there are public restrooms *everywhere*. Including ones that you can, ahem, properly sit down in. In smaller cities, they aren't always the cleanest, but at least they are plentiful. And in larger cities like Beijing, the presence of literally tens of thousands of public toilets puts to shame the great-but-desperation-causing cities of Europe.
3
And some benighted souls living away from the coasts think that identity politics isn’t winning great victories and improving their quality of life.
13
The fraught issue of public restrooms, or lack thereof, is not a new problem. If I may be permitted to quote from the 1899 edition of Baedeker's United States travel guide:
"Public Conveniences are not usually provided in American cities, but their place is practically supplied by the lavatories of hotels, to which passers-by resort freely. Accommodation is also furnished at railway stations."
And this: "Such public conveniences as do exist in New York and other large cities are disgracefully inadequate in number, size, and equipment."
As any New Yorker (and many a desperate visitor) knows, good, clean, public restrooms are still few and far between. Like Mr. Manjoo, I too have a 'go to' list of favorite public restrooms that I aim for when I am out and about, and the need arises.
As an international traveler, I have also learned to I carry a small supply of tissue paper in my 'man bag', for those inevitable times when the supply of toilet paper has run out.
Finally, there is an comprehensive database of public restrooms available on the New York Restrooms website http://m3.mappler.net/nyrestroom/ though I can't attest to how accurate it is.
4
This article brought up 2 funny memories:
An internationally minded American friend once remarked to me that each country has the things it does better than anyone else, and for America it's teeth and toilets.
And, while living in France I met a Romanian who was surprised I had left America. To her living in America was the "dream." She had visited once and felt we were very "evolved" because of our national parks and public bathrooms.
4
As the world gets better, so do its bathrooms. I have also noticed the general improvement in cleanliness. As a kid, 60 years ago, almost all public restrooms were offensive. One at a certain amusement Park was famous. You couldn't walk near the building it was housed in without feeling the need to wretch. I give credit to our consumerism. Companies finally realized clean bathrooms were good for business. snd as we know, in America, business is all.
1
I’m originally from China. My grandmother became reluctant to go out as her aged partly due to the lack of the public bathrooms. My mother also feared the same and would ration herself to a reduced amount of drinking water if we were out and about. It’s much better in America. The European public bathrooms, despite the fees, are actually often more crowded with long lines.
One area that we still need to improve is bathrooms in companies that have a big gender disparity. I work in a high tech company, and I frequently visit other tech companies. Four years ago, my company changed 2:2 ratio of male:female bathrooms to 3:1. When the only female bathroom had a plumbing problem, we had to go offsite. I see other companies keeping male bathrooms as male and turning female bathrooms into all-gender. Why not make all all-gender? Because straight males cannot get over the box in their mind — I have seen men lining up outside the male bathroom as opposed to going to the all-gender one just two feet away.
Come to think of it, men seem to be needier. I attended a tech conference this year, held at Marriott, where a sign was slapped on the female bathroom on Day 2. To the effect of “females please use the restroom one level above or below.” Is the male need more urgent?
At busy concert venues, sometimes one or two women would step out of the women’s line to go to the male restroom that has no line. We need more women to do this. Not just bathrooms but crossing over to the male domain
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@WendyW
RE: Come to think of it, men seem to be needier. I attended a tech conference this year, held at Marriott, where a sign was slapped on the female bathroom on Day 2. To the effect of “females please use the restroom one level above or below.” Is the male need more urgent?
If it was a tech conference bet it was 80 or 90 percent male. So it makes more sense to send 20 or 10 percent of attendees (female) to another floor rather than 40 or 45 percent (half of the male attendees.)
Perhaps it isn’t anything nefarious but rather that in a women’s restroom, the facilities are all separated in stalls with doors while in men’s restrooms half the porcelain is in open view. In the Army, we had twenty foot long trough urinals.
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Some pictures of nice, or even beautiful toilets/restrooms, would have added to this column. Also where to find them in NYC. :-)
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This is America's greatest moment: “all gender” restrooms. On this we can all agree joining the nation at a critical time.
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@Ace: speak for yourself, please. As a woman, I much prefer exclusive female space.
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This article is a good example of why I recently decided to terminate my subscription. The last improvements in public restrooms were disabled accessibility and the growth of family restrooms with changing tables. Neither of these are new developments. Having men in my public restroom does not help me.
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The author seems unaware that clean or dirty, there are virtually no public bathrooms at all in New York city. None, except for an experimental one on east 34th, and maybe one similar on the west side but I suspect they don't exist any more.
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Farhad, you're the best. Let's celebrate our toilets. I mean that sincerely. Privacy and sanitation.
If the US is lagging in most other things these days, at least we can herald that. And you're right. Single stall, culture-war-negating bathrooms are good. We all just need a break.
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I work at Starbucks and as a result of our new open policy we now have people doing drugs in our bathroom many times a day, every day, blood often splashed up the wall. That has been the sole result of our wonderful new policy.
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@andy
What you mention is probably one of many things that now occurs in bathrooms and those in charge don't consider when having an open door policy. If public bathrooms have to accommodate every problem that people have, they'd go out of business. Thanks for your comment. I wonder how many think about what you described.
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@andy This is america.
@andy all food service establishments MUST have toilet rooms accessible to the public. not a new policy
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It seems that grocery stores, drug stores and even hardware stores have figured out that if customers don’t have to rush home as they near the end of their “cruising range” they will stay in the store and buy more stuff.
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@Mark Eisner
I became homeless 30 years ago, and began walking everywhere. I have been in Duluth , Marquette, Grand Rapids, Escanaba, Traverse City, and smaller towns, living in subsidized housing and shelters. I have always been able to plan my walking to encompass public bathrooms like libraries, stores, restaurants, etc., and my bladder is not exceptional, I assure you.
My only long distance travel was by bus, not so good, and once by train, very good.
In trying to understand the complaints, I wonder if the problem is that now everyone brings children when they used to be home with one parent or guardian?
Perhaps the more than adequate facilities became overwhelmed in the last 20 years but this is not the point of the article.
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Foreigners frequently are unhappy that the American booth partitions are so high above the floor and that this is a gap on both sides of the door. I suspect some of this was out of fear of multiple occupancy, but many do not like the possibility of someone peering in. A recent account of the new restrooms at LGA show partitions that near to the floor and much higher than usual with additional floor space for luggage.
Japan and southern Europe still have the squat toilets dreaded by Americans. At my age, I am not certain I could balance myself on one without mishap.
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@David
The problem with squat toilets is that you have to "aim it" right. My elementary school, in Paris in the 1940's, had that type, and the toilets flushed automatically at regular intervals, with a lot of water and a lot of noise. It was scary and many children left "deposits" on the floor, away from the hole, probably because they, too, were scared.
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@David The vast majority of toilets in urban areas are modern,Western style commodes. They're spic and span and plentiful, easily accessible and never locked in train stations, department stores, highrises, and other public venues. And they work!
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@David I'm delighted to see that someone from Flushing has commented on this column!
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I don't know where the author of this article has been dropping their drawers, but try using the restrooms in any of the busiest airports in America. I've seen airport restrooms (special shout out to DTW) that look like emergency rooms in the aftermath of unspeakable disasters. I've seen airport restrooms that hazmat teams would not enter. And try going into some restaurants and bars with the expectation of soap for washing your hands and some means of drying them. I won't even start on stalls with the hardware missing or disfigured beyond functionality. In other words, I disagree.
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@solar farmer
I travel a lot and I have noticed the increase in quality of restrooms in airports, malls and restaurants. Most of the newer restrooms I encounter here in Europe are "touchless." What a relief to not have to deal with the dreaded doorknob when exiting the bathroom!
No one person's experience is definitive but it does seem that Mr. Manjoo's observation is accurate.
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@solar farmer - Atlanta's Harstfield-Jackson airport, and they're kept clean enough.
@solar farmer to add to your comment, what about some fast food restaurants? Forget the customers, watch people who work and handle your food, go to restroom that doesn’t provide paper towels. They use the toilet, wash their hands, turn off the dirty faucet that’s been touched by hundred dirty hands, use the disgusting door handle to open the door to walk out, straight into the kitchen and handle food. They need paper towel to dry their hands, turn the faucet off with it afterwards, open the door with it, and discard it, without touching anything,
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This is an interesting article. I was born in the UK and I have lived in the US for 30 years now, I have yet to find a public restroom outside of a park, museum, or similar place. In most other countries that I have lived in or visited there are clearly signposted public restrooms dotted around towns. Here they seem to either not exist or are not signposted.
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@daqman agree and the worst place is NYC. I literally darn near passed out from dehydration one summer day there because I knew it would be impossible to find a bathroom and I was right. It was extremely difficult to find a place to go. At least in other cities, they will let you use the bathroom in most public places but it's much more restricted in the city.
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There are not enough restrooms for people, or people who want to clean them.
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@daqman Australia is the best - public toilets in every park and public place, and signposts directing you to them when you come into a town by car. Australians must be shocked by the lack of facilities when they travel abroad!
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Like my mom before me, I’ve a form of colitis that leaves us in need of a restroom ASAP and with little warning. I agree that public restrooms are improving. But as a white, neatly dressed older woman, I can slip in where so many others can’t - hotel lobbies are wonderful as are fast food restaurants. So much more can and should be done.
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@Mary Ann
I think as long as one is neatly dressed, polite, appreciative - and purchases a little something (i.e. a seller water, an apple) - one can easily slip in to the places you describe. I do the same, and it always works out.
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@Mary Ann Ally's law: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323078.php#overview
Only some of the venues you mentioned - airports, hotels, shopping malls, theaters, stadiums, offices - are truly "public." Hotels, shopping malls, theaters and offices are owned by private entities and thus have the right - as do restaurants - to decide who uses the facilities. Airports and stadiums come closer to being truly "public" since they may be owned by a local government or government-chartered corporation. While bathrooms in all of these places may be getting better, one should note that the U.S. is sorely lacking in truly public restrooms - places on the street open to anyone. Except for restrooms in parks or interstate rest stops, I can't think of many that are truly open to all. For the others, one is at the mercy of the proprietor. It works if the bathroom user is fairly neat and normal. But if the bathroom user is homeless or unwashed, I bet finding a bathroom to use is much more difficult.
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@Kathryn Minnick "Except for restrooms in parks or interstate rest stops, I can't think of many that are truly open to all."
Libraries?
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Another area where it seems restroom accommodations are improving is the rest areas along major highways. Twenty or so years ago, our family took a road trip from California to Illinois. The California rest stops were atrocious—filthy, in fact. The ones in Oklahoma got high marks. Last summer, we took a road trip from California to Michigan, and the rest areas across the country, including California, were excellent. It’s encouraging to see such a basic human need get appropriate attention.
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@Melinda
Have you visited Georgia?
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Thanks to Mr Manjoo and the Times for sharing this appreciation. A male traveling with young children, especially little girls, faces a daunting and potentially traumatic situation when he needs to use a rest room. It is a patently uncomfortable situation to bring a small girl into a busy conventional rest room. That we now see more family rest rooms with better privacy is a fine change for the better.
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@Jeff I'm glad for family restrooms too. People may not realize that elderly folks often need a caregiver to help them in the loo and that person may not be the same sex/ gender as them.
Also, what's with some parents bringing their older kids into the restroom with them? I've seen boys who are 8, 9, 10 in the women's restroom brought by their female parent/ guardian. They did not seem disabled or developmentally delayed either (which I would understand) but rather brought in because they were rowdy, not behaving, etc.
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@ms , Many are afraid of kidnapping. Whether it's a realistic fear isn't to the point.
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@Harold (Mexico) - also molesters. I used to swim at a gym where opposite-sex children were allowed with parents in the locker rooms & showers up to I believe age eight. I
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As someone who has driven the north/south I-95 corridor at least twice a year for decades, I have observed that the majority of gas station bathrooms on that route are awful: unclean, befouled, and coated with layers of what-one-does-not-want-to-know.
Three frequent exceptions are truck stops, McDonalds and visitor centers, where restrooms seem to be cleaned on a regular schedule.
As for my long and growing list of available (wink wink, nod nod) loos in NYC, I have been writing a Zagat-like guide that may never see the light of day because numerous venues have made interesting offers not to publish what I have learned.
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@Mon Ray This past summer I took a road trip out I-40 from ABQ to the coast of North Carolina. McDonalds is the place to go! You can count on them to appear at regular intervals, they're generally clean, always a quick in and out with no obligation to purchase anything, although I often do, out of gratitude. They're also filled with families and feel safe for a woman traveling alone. In my own city, I never eat fast food, but on the road, nature calls!
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Add Cracker Barrel restaurants to your list.... the food will clog every artery but the bathrooms are clean.
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@Desertbluecat There actually is a book like that for Paris. "Ou faire pipi à Paris?" by Cécile Briand. Éditions Attila 2012. Even this long-term resident learned of a few good places. Good idea to always have Kleenex with you, though.
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Restaurants/Bars/Pubs & other Food Service places should be reading and learning something from this. They have the dirtiest Restrooms & pay no attention to guest satisfaction though customers spend big money at these establishments. There are a few exceptions of course but by & large they pretty much suck at hygiene!
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To see the U.S. progressing in the realm of public/shared infrastructure, and an article like your's that pays tribute, is the best news I've read in awhile. We should also give ourselves a pat on the back for water fountains, which are much harder to come by, if even available, in Europe. We need more of these wins. Imagine if we took all of the energy that goes into developing tech apps for things we already have 10 tech apps for into public transportation.
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Thank the disability rights movement for a lot of these changes. You can return the gesture by supporting the disability rights movement--lots more changes to go!
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I seldom go to the US but I travel to other countries a lot. Recently I was in a bar with colleagues after work on the last day of a gig.
We wondered what the broadest and most long-lasting worldwide effect of tourism and business travel from the US has been since, say, 1950 in all of the countries we regularly visit.
Our only unanimous conclusion: Public loos. All over.
And we recognized the influence of US social activists.
So, thanks.
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Interesting column! I haven't noticed the general improvements in US restrooms but I'll take Mr. Manjoo's word for it. I love the single occupancy restrooms when I find them - women aren't allowed to pass gas even in public restrooms for some reason so the single occupancy ones are a godsend at times.
On a side note apropos of nothing, I've often seen longer lines at the men's restrooms than the women's restrooms on Pier 39 in San Francisco, which always puts a smile on my face.
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@Tres Leches Exactly what I enjoyed about taking the engineering licensing exam!
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What's still lacking in the bathroom realm is a sufficient number of stalls for women, especially in places like theaters where there's a flood of people wanting to use the bathroom at the same time at intermission.
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Went to see a restored version of Lawrence of Arabia in Hollywood one night. Imagine my surprise when, during intermission, there was a line about 40 feet long for the men’s room and no line at all for the women’s room. ..
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@Pa Mae - That's was probably because they converted all the men's rooms, save perhaps one, to women's rooms. I've seen similar in a concert hall. Maybe the guys are supposed to step out in the alley.
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@Dan
I'm a female and agree. Though I don't understand _why_ my fellow females take so long. The act of sitting - rather than standing - and using toilet paper, should add like 15 seconds on to a typical public restroom session.... but it seems to add much, much longer.
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I also happen to have some expertise in toilets because my elderly father needs to use them often due to an enlarged prostate. It is a vital issue because he (and I suspect many other people) curtail their outside activities for fear of not finding a restroom in time (and this is despite medications).
One thing I would like to see more are sinks, mirror, and hand dryers OUTSIDE of the restrooms. Sometimes, you don't need to use the toilet but you may need to wash your hands, brush your teeth, comb your hair, etc. and in a crowded situation, this can be difficult as you excuse yourself up the line. Also, it can save space, money, and encourage people to wash their hands via social pressure.
I'm with you on England and France as well. One thing though: a lot of Parisian parks have free public toilets but their hours might be limited.
On the homeless front, I often wonder if it would be cleaner and cheaper to have free toilets in off-hours (when shops, libraries, etc. are closed) rather than cleaning up messes afterwards in the alleys, subway elevators, etc. here in San Francisco. I suspect most people would prefer a private, clean toilet if they had a choice.
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Unexpected, gratifying, welcomed perspective on this topic.
I'll just point out that this column lifted my spirits, as I learned how Farhad turns a challenging chronic condition into a platform for caring about others. I have a chronic condition and it often seems overwhelming. Today, I felt so proud to see the tough challenges faced by this columnist support this exploration of an extremely important topic for many people. I thank you.
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I (female) took a wheelchair bound friend (male) to the women’s restroom at a museum many years ago. It generated concern by the guard (I was directed to take him to the men’s room) and confusion for the men who entered the bathroom to see me there. I appreciate the non-gender specific bathrooms, or so called family rooms, that are popular now.
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As we work to improve accommodations for all, let us not give away the accommodations that women historically had to fight for in the first place. Often times, one sees signs for bathrooms where one is "male" and one is "all-gender" -- leaving the female people without their own private bathroom. Single occupancy rooms are one thing, but it is a mistake to make the multi-stall women's bathrooms mixed-sex, leaving women no place for privacy. Especially when women need more facilities to begin with. (Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women, has addressed why making women's rooms gender-neutral disadvantages women.) There is a reason women fought for their own bathrooms in public spaces, and we still need them.
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@finally: Right on! Not only is there still a general dearth of restrooms for women, too often those that do exist are in places that are difficult to access. Here's looking at you, concert venues in NYC and Boston, the two with which I'm most familiar.
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@finally
We do we women “need more facilities to begin with”? I personally don’t want or need more than anyone else, just equal. ( I.e. if a male restroom has 5 urinals and 2 stalls, a female restroom should have 7 stalls.)
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@finally
Agreed. It's notable this article was written by a man.
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If you've got a child in a stroller, the large stalls for wheelchair users are a godsend. Instead of leaving your child parked outside, just roll them in with you.
And I've noticed that at airports, newer standard stalls are finally large enough to accommodate a human AND their wheelie.
Now if only some benevolent billionaire would donate to the NYC Parks Department so they could renovate/open/clean park toilets...
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@Elizabeth A
On behalf of my wife and other disabled individuals, it would be appreciated if those who are able-bodied would leave the handicapped stalls for those who truly need them and physically can't use a regular stall. If you're worried about getting a stroller in there, imagine what it's like trying to get in with a walker or a wheelchair and turn it around. It's physically impossible. That's why the handicapped stalls exist.
The private or "family" restrooms would work best for you.
Also, when bathroom designers put the only baby-changing table in the handicapped stall, they are doing a serious disservice to both the disabled AND to those with babies.
It would also be nice if more men's rooms were equipped with changing tables, too, as plenty of men need to take their baby or toddler to the loo. As my wife points out, it gets rid of another excuse for men to not "take their turn", too!
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@Elizabeth A
Bryant Park toilets won a bunch of awards recently
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While we are on the subject of bathrooms, I’d like to ask all restroom designers to make the door handles leading into and out of the facility more disability friendly. I have a wrist disability, and I can’t open doors that are “heavy” (usually because of a door closer) and have handles that I can get some part of my elbow into. Knobs and small pull-loop handles are impossible for me to use. I’ve been trapped in restrooms, forced to wait until someone comes in so that I can finally leave. Lever handles or large loop handles are usually OK. The best are those foot door openers, or automatic door openers. So, I keep my own list of public bathrooms — the ones I can leave.
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Public restrooms here may be improving, but there’s something in the American psyche that seems to discourage the acceptance of bidets. For some reason, people here are uncomfortable with the idea of using a toilet equipped with a stream of water for cleaning.
After a trip to Japan, where Toto bidets are the norm, I installed two at home. Once you get used to them, you never go back! Better for personal hygiene, less toilet paper, no more wipes to clog the sewers. Win-win, if we can just get over our national aversion to the idea.
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@Claire Elliott - Yes, the "paperless toilet" in Japan has much to recommend it. In Tokyo I also saw a men's room with three different fixtures, not the usual two, to accommodate those who prefer/need to squat low over the floor. I believe that room also had baby-changing and colostomy-servicing facilities.
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@Claire Elliott I did the same! (And learned how easy it is to buy a Toto online here in the US)
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It's lovely that activists are improving the American loo. I've no problem with the trans using my loo. Or marrying and the rest. But I am male, and my identity as such is profound, so I shall not adopt gender neutral language.
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@Slipping Glimpser
I agree; people can have whatever gender they want, marry whomever they want but, please, don't tamper with the language.
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Whatever.
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@Slipping Glimpser No one is asking you to adopt gender neutral language to refer to yourself, or for others to refer to you. The request is for you to use gender neutral language when referring to persons whose identity as gender neutral is as profound as your identity as male. Simple courtesy. Also, the golden rule.
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First, sorry to read about Farhad's condition—sounds rough. Second, the news that public bathrooms are getting better is welcome, but Farhad and I must not, uh, go to the same places. I also have a condition the requires frequent and sometimes-spontaneous trips to the WC while in public, and I still find it challenging to find loos that are clean, private, and don't require a key or code. I've often wondered why the burden is mainly on private businesses to provide what ought to be public facilities for this basic human need, especially in cities like mine, where thousands are homeless. But I'm willing to believe it's getting better elsewhere. If there's an organized effort I can join to hasten progress, well, aux barricades.
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Great piece. I appreciate that it gives credit to the social justice activists who have paved the way.
Making spaces accessible for marginalized groups (in this case, people with disabilities and gender non-conforming people) ends up benefiting everyone. It's important to remember that next time a group requests accommodation.
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In new construction of commercial buildings I'm seeing that ladies rooms are larger, stroller and wheel chair friendly, and more numerous. Finally, supermarkets have bathrooms...a boon to parents who are accompanied by their children. And I really like those single toilet rooms...I don't have to hear someone's cell phone conversation echoing across the stalls.
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Wait! At my supermarket job I was asked to check on the men's room for a problem. A public rest room = open to the public. the situation was so bad I had to literally mop the walls to clean it up.
Who knows what went on there.
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@Bill Wilkerson
These things happen. The crime is the poor pay and disrespect for those who clean up.
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Not in Portland, Oregon. Our parks department has something north of 400 restrooms. They are closed six months out of the year and only open for 12 hours a day in the the half year that they are open, this despite the fact that Portland has the 4th highest rate of homelessness in the country.
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@Stephen You think there might be a connection?
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Ever try finding a public restroom in New York City? There’s none.
The city even tried to combat this but it got bogged down in typical NY red tape of unions and rules. If I recall there some storage facility in Queens that has over a dozen of those self cleaning restrooms that were never installed.
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@M. Actually, there are many public restrooms in New York, though I can't attest to how clean and well supplied they all are. Check out the excellent New York Restrooms site http://m3.mappler.net/nyrestroom/ for locations and other useful information.
There is even an 'NYRestroom' iPhone/iPad app available. I believe the listings rely on user supplied information, so feel free to contribute to the site if you find a restroom that is not listed there.
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@M. With regard to the "storage facility in Queens", I once asked a friend who worked with the NYPD about this rumour/story, and he confirmed the existence of just such a facility (though I don't remember if it was in Queens).
He also told me that the reason these stand-alone restrooms have never been installed is because they are regarded by anti-terror experts as the perfect place for a terrorist to leave a backpack filled with explosives, which could then be detonated once the fanatic had left the toilet.
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I suppose to disabled people or those needing privacy this is significant. I never thought about it this way. Guys are used to showering in gyms, YMCAs etc and though I'm not a nudist it doesn't bother me. But hey I was born in 1951. Here in the Politically Correct town of Northampton, Mass. we have gender neutral bathrooms. Not that the bathrooms have a gender, but the people using them. I don't really care where I relieve myself of urine and feces. I do feel very bad that in India, Pakistan, etc there are so few safe places for women to just perform their bodily functions without being abused. I think this is one of the projects Bill Gates et all are working on. In this day and age a person should be comfortable to just go to the bathroom without a hassle. What a world....
And by the way, though not important news in itself, the topic is worth considering. Good ideas come slowly to reality.
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You are absolutely right. I’ve noticed his myself, but thought it was serendipity or perhaps I was going to a better class of establishments. Nope. Maybe this is a fortunate side effect of the Trumpian obsession with Toilets and flushing.
Cheers.
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