Bathrooms!!! New York City
 

OK- I'll be taking a group of people from work on a marathon day visit of NYC. :) Some first timers, but the group will be moving along since the priority is to see as much as possible. :)

We start at Macys, then subway to Chinatown- walk through, subway to City Hall, walk to first arch of Brooklyn Bridge, walk to WTC site. Does Century 21 have public bathrooms?? or does the Park Service in the Battery?? From the battery- we'll subway to 72nd St. and walk through Central Park- I know there are bathrooms by the boathouse and Dairy. Then a walk down 5th Ave- or subway- to Rockerfeller Center, to Times Square- do they have the Charmin toilets this year- or is the Visitor Center open around 6-7pm???

Thanks for any confimation/advice, but we won't be doing resturants- will be doing delis, street food etc. And I can't waste a lot of time finding bathrooms. :)

Restrooms at Century 21 are on the bottom (housewares, luggage, etc.) floor. I don't know about the other places.

We found public restrooms (i.e., large facilities) in the bottom level of Rockefeller Ctr.

In TS, try Toys R Us.

This is a question after my own heart but I think it's pretty funny that I'm replying...LOL!

Enjoy-la!

At Rock Center you can also use the toilets at Saks, right across the street. Barnes and Noble on 5th and 46th also has public toilets.

I don't know what you mean by the Charmin toilets, but a few weeks ago I passed by a visitors center around 47th St. - on the east side of 7th Av. and some guys were announcing that public toilets were available inside.

http://beyondtimessquare.com/nyc_travel_info.htm

About 2/3 down the page, this site has the info you're looking for. I myself was wondering the same thing a few months ago and found this to be pretty reliable. Also, just google NYC public restrooms for more.

Across from the WTC site is the World Financial building (with a very moving monument to the lost American Express employees). There's a beautiful public toilet inside the World Financial Center.
http://www.worldfinancialcenter.com/maps/?id=35

Most hotels have bathrooms in the lobby that are open to the public. I live in Boston and make use of them all the time when I'm out shopping.

The Disney store on fifth also has excellent bathrooms. I also find that most Starbucks have them, and it is an easy place to nip into, purchase a cookie (or other small item) and use the bathroom. Your itinerary looks practical and fun to me, but if it is a large party, are you sure everyone is up to that amount of walking? I've squired around out of towners who were really worn out by the amount of ground it's easy to cover in NYC.

Thanks for all the help on the bathrooms. :) There are only 7 in the group, so very managable. We're all on the same page with "moving", and no mobility limitations. I did this same routing 2 years ago with another group.

As I mention, the priority is to see the highlights and the most. I'll cut back if I need to, and adjust the route if needed. Thanks to all, again.

Bathrooms to skip:

Any public transportation
Penn Station
Grand Central
Port Authority

Fast Food:

McDonalds
TGI Fridays
Starbucks
Burger King
etc

Best Bathrooms:

Upscale Department Store
Hotel Lobby

In case that reads wrong, skip fast food bathrooms and restaurants in Times Square that are tourist traps.

The Charmin Bathrooms are still in times square.

Barnes & Noble bookstores are also good bathroom bets!

In Herald Square, (34th St) there are restrooms in Macys on several floors and at Manhattan Mall, by the Food Court.

Also after Chinatown, just walk down Layfayette St. to City Hall, it's easier than taking the subway and it's only a few blocks.

Down 5th Ave, there really isn't a subway line there, so you might want to take the bus, and that way you would get nice views of all the store windows.

Your metrocards, have a free transfer from subway to bus, and bus to subway, (but not subway to subway).

Have a great time.

chinatown to city hall is a very short walk. Just walk down Broadway, about 10 quick blocks (from canal to chambers st).

I would be the first to agree that public transportation bathrooms are usually horrendous; however, in the last year, I have had occasion to use the restrooms at both Penn Station and Grand Central and not only were the not horrible, there were pretty darn decent (Grand Central being the better of the two).

I'm a big fan of Starbucks because they have bathrooms almost everywhere (well, for sure, in all their California stores, and in their London stores; not entirely sure about NY).

I also would recommend hotel lobbies and department stores.

Also, Barnes and Noble's has rest rooms. There is a hotel across from Century 21 (I think the millenium).

Another option is SOuth Street Seaport (near B'lyn Bridge), they have several public restrooms.

Starbucks! They are all over the place and usually fine.

I agree with dmlove. The bathrooms at Grand Central aren't bad and they are certainly preferable to going on the train (NOT an option). There is a stationmaster's office on the W side of the upper level and 2 newly renovated bathrooms on the lower level.