Bathrooms in NYC
 

We're coming to NYC for the first time and taking the subways for most of our site seeing. Is there a need to plan out where the bathrooms are? Also, where can we typically use the bathrooms at?

Starbucks usually does have bathrooms.

Best bathrooms are in hotels on the main floor. All dept. stores have them. After that, it's hit and miss. There are loads of previous threads on this subject if you do a search.

The bathrooms in the public parks aren't terrible (particularly in Bryant Park and along Riverside). Do NOT use the bathrooms in the subways, if you find one :)

Also, Penn Station and Grand Central will have restrooms.

Subways don;t have bathrooms. Train stations (Penn and Grand Central) do - but you don;t want to use them.

Best bet are Starbucks, McDonalds (but do buy something to drink), major hotels or department stores.

Sorry - and of course all the major sights, museums etc.

Lower level of the Trump Tower at 725 Fifth Ave between 56th and 57th. ("lower level of the atrium down the south corridor")

They are WONDERFUL and completely open to the public.

I agree with Starbucks. When I was there two weekends ago, there was a huge line of people that were just there to use the restroom. Also, we found two very nice restrooms in Central Park.

I disagree with nytraveler about the bathrooms at Grand Central. Definitely use them! They are remodeled and safe!

I often use the restroom at Penn Station, it is by the Long Island Railroad, and very clean attendant there 24/7.

My favorite restrooms in the City are at the Waldorf on Park Ave.

All the department stores have one and the malls so you shouldn't have much of a problem finding one.

Can someone please tell me why you do not want to use the bathroom at the trainstation? I will be traveling by train and my dd needs a bathroom often.

Thanks,
Dawn

The bathrooms at the actual train stations (Penn Station and Grand Central) are fine. There are indeed a few subway stations with bathrooms but they are scarce, beyond disgusting and hardly even used. So stay away :)

Also, all branches of the New York Public Library will have a bathroom. Barnes & Noble is also a good bet.

In addition, if you are in midtown, the Manhattan Mall on 6th Avenue has bathrooms. And at Columbus Circle, you can visit the Time Warner Center.

thank you for the feedback. I am not an experienced city traveler on my own and just want to be sure I am not putting dd in "danger" was not sure what the issues were.

Restrooms in the train stations are indeed safe. (They no longer allow homeless people to live in them.) But, they are not very pleasant - cleanliness depends on # of passengers and person on duty. Just bring you Purell.

Also Au Bon Pain.

NYSC if you're a member of New York Sports Club (which branches out to DC, Boston and other cities) and your membership allows it.

Unfortunately, NYC is not as enlightened as many other cities are...when I visited Toronto I found out there was a law that establishment could not restrict use of their restrooms to customers only...such a law is so common sense but we, unfortunately, don't have it.

But that's, as noted, the difference between a civilized city and a non civilized city.

Nytraveler -- If I can manage through the bathrooms in Italy - this should be fine :-) I was sensing that there was some kind of "danger". Thank you!

<i>Unfortunately, NYC is not as enlightened as many other cities are...when I visited Toronto I found out there was a law that establishment could not restrict use of their restrooms to customers only...such a law is so common sense but we, unfortunately, don't have it.</i>

Ha! I don't think that's enlightened at all. I just don't understand what business it is of the government to require a private business to open its facilities to non-customers. Next thing you know, they'll require me to let people use the bathroom in my house. And what about the bathroom in my office on the 40th floor of a downtown office building. If the government is so concerned about people being able to pee, then they should build (and pay for the construction and maintenance of) more public restrooms.

Yeah, why should an establishment be forced to let people use their facilities w/o being a customer.

Like your DD, I often have need of a loo! Living in NYC has forced me to become more flexible in my usage, and I manage to make out just fine.

I would agree with the recommendations to stay away from Subway restrooms. They exist in about 50 of the stations, but are often locked and are in terrible condition. (the exception to this is in Times Square, where there is an attendant the bathrooms are cleaned by a private contractor).

Whenever you are on a street corner, you're guaranteed to see a Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, or other cafe/coffee shop/diner type place. Almost all of these will let you use the restroom.

Don't worry!

I like the idea. In fact, I think that every citizen should be required to let strangers use their home bathrooms. Better yet, require them to leave the house unlocked so that strangers might not be inconvenienced.

thank you happy train!

I have been to NYC a number of times in the last 12 months and dd was there with me in August but we managed with our hotel restrooms and the resturants we went to... but I was concerned *if I was on the subway and she decided she needed to use one I would simply walk her over to the closest one not knowing any better.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Book stores like Barnes and Nobles and Border's are always good options, too.

oh good one Greenhouse!!!

Didn't the city install some automated (self cleaning) &quot;portables&quot; awhile back.

I guess it didn't work out.

I have never heard anything so idiotic as making an analogy between a restaurant, bar making its facilities available in a time of need with a personal residence.

If they can do it in Toronto, they can do it in New York (and London and Paris and...)

Well, apparently, you're the only one :)

Apparently, you don't believe in private enterprise? There are costs involved with having a restroom. Whose paying the additional maintenance costs? Insurance?

Back to where to find bathrooms... :)

I highly recommend a trip to the Forbes Gallery, at Fifth Avenue and 12th Street. It's a great collection of toys and art.

But the best surprise there is the quality of the public bathrooms on the first floor. Marble facilities and gold fixtures! Pee like a capitalist!

:)

Some day I hope those of you who think it is so terrible to have a law requiring restaurants, bars and hotels not to restrict use of their facilities to customers only have an urgent call of nature and get turned down till they soiled themselves and wonder why people are the way they are.

During one visit to NYC I was on crutches, non-weight bearing on my left leg. So, ok I got around but slowly. The biggest shock was how unaccessible a lot of places are in NYC were - especially restaurants in older buildings. The bathrooms often were down a flight of narrow stairs (dimly lit wasn't unusual) with no elevator. It gave me a real appreciation for what &quot;accessible&quot; means.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the bathrooms in Grand Central, they are clean, well maintained and well lit.

One of the city's best bathrooms is in the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Time Warner building - very elegant!

Some suggestion on this site....

http://www.thebathroomdiaries.com/us.../new+york.html

I agree the bathrooms at Grand Central are now fine to use.
When I was growing up in the Ct suburbs in the 1960's, my mother always used the bathroom at the adjacent Commodore Hotel (now Grand Hyatt) instead of GC
One time my sister almost got crushed in the revolving door when it went off its track as we were going through.

&quot;get turned down till they soiled themselves and wonder why people are the way they are.&quot;

been there, done that, got the tshirt.

Saw a program about bathrooms on Modern Marvels (History Channel) last night. They pointed out that New York has about 3000 public toilets while Singapore, with a smaller population, has 30,0000. I'm not talking about restrooms in hotels or restaurants, just &quot;public&quot; as in available to anyone passing by with some loose change.

&quot;about 3000 public toilets&quot;

To me public means provided by a municipality. Like public school. Is this what they mean?

or open to the public. Like a restaurant is open to the public.

As vjp writes, &quot;public&quot; as in public school, &quot;public&quot; as in &quot;open to the public&quot;, but there is also a third possibility, which is public, as in intended for use by the general public walking around the city and not housed within a private establishment, such as the JC Decaux &quot;toilet kiosks&quot; in San Francisco.