Yes, NYC new public toilet is a big deal

[rodeodance]

Source: ap



Yes, NYC new public toilet is a big deal

1 hour, 19 minutes ago

NEW YORK - It's billed as the "first flush" — the ceremonial opening of a new public toilet on the streets of New York City.


The first of 20 public toilets under the city's street furniture contract with Spanish advertising giant Cemusa, Inc. opened Thursday at Madison Square Park in Manhattan.

Public toilets have been discussed for years in the city, and a temporary bank of public potties in Times Square got publicity when toilet paper company Charmin opened them in December for holiday shoppers.

The wheelchair-accessible toilets, cost 25 cents for 15 minutes before the toilet doors automatically open and a 60-second cleaning cycle begins after each use.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20080111/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_first_flush;_ylt=Aj81OtHfFj8Opd7CjbqgfQGs0NUE

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whow--great--very practical

[TwilightGardener]

1. The doors open automatically after 15 minutes? What if you're still wiping?

[slackmaster]

2. The TP rolls automatically lock, too

If it takes more than 15 minutes then you are in a world of shit.

[raebrek]

17. pun intended? n/t

[MADem]

4. I was wondering if you could toss another coin in a slot if you're sitting there, desperately,

trying to "work it out with a pencil...."

Or do you have to get up, go out, and toss another coin in?

Is there a way you could pay fifty cent for a half hour?

[Warpy]

5. Then people on the street get a show, I guess

Seriously, I doubt the door flies open, only unlocks and opens a crack.

I've always hated the way this country tries to deny human bodily functions. These units are a great first step to making us just a little more humane and I hope other cities follow.

One toilet open to homeless folks in Boston was a DPW facility on lower Washington Street. I used to visit it once in a while, just to read the new graffiti. It was the best stuff in town.

[rodeodance]

6. I read a while ago about these self cleaning potties in Europe. very sucessful

[Lochloosa]

16. Or, what if Sen. Craig is still trying to clean up the toilet paper?

[Lint Head]

3. What, no music to tap your feet to? What will Repug Senators do?

:dem:

[On the Road]

7. Sounds Like That Japanese Prank Show

where an unsuspecting passerby uses a porty-potty near a lake, sits down, and suddenly find themselves being towed by a boat across the water open to the world. Or alternately, the roof comes off and they're hydraulically lifted 10 feet in the air.

[SOS]

8. And it only took 30 years to install.

Whether it's a public toilet, a bike lane or a Second Avenue subway, just wait 30-50 years and - presto! - there it is.

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Add 10 years to your total for the Van Wyck Expressway

They seem to be doing construction to the same 2 mile stretch of the Van Wyck since I was 10 years old.

[alarimer]

9. They'll be disgusting inside of a week

People are pretty disgusting animals. It won't take long for these to break or for the maintenance system to break down. In a a large city like that. Gross, just gross. I'll hold it until I find someplace to eat or get back to my hotel.

[spinbaby]

11. That's why the have the cleaning cycle

I like the idea that the toilets clean themselves. I just did some traveling and there are always women who can't bring themselves to actually sit on a public toilet, so they sprinkle all over the seat. This makes it disgusting for the next woman, who also sprinkles, and it becomes one yucky self-perpetuating cycle. Airport restrooms always seem to be the worst.

[robcon]

12. No, NYC public toilet is not a big deal.

Who cares? I'm a NYer, but I could care less. Not a bad idea, not a great idea, just not a big deal.

[Retrograde]

20. But it's NEW YORK!

so what if Paris had these as early as the 80s (IIRC from my first visit in '87) and other US cities,including my small town south of San Francisco, have had them for a decade. We're talking about the Center of the Universe here - or at least one of the main media centers in the country.

Getting back on topic: more public restrooms is good. The NYC subways were designed with public restrooms, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who's used one (are they even still open?) Men have slightly more options, but for women having to go usually means finding a convenient store with facilities - if they'll let you use them.

Trivia: New York State banned exclusively pay toilets, which were sometimes all one could find, on the basis of sex discrimination back in the 1970s or thereabouts.

[Auggie]

13. The toilets in San Francisco are very popular with drug users

Great place to shoot up

[AndyTiedye]

14. We Have These in San Francisco

They have been nice and clean when I have used them. First pay toilets I have seen where I thought I was getting my money's worth.

[Neshanic]

15. The big question is if Larry "wide stance"Craig can fit in one.

I don't think he will have an issue with the 15 minute time limit.

Him being a busy republickan of course.

[Teaser]

18. Saw them > 10 years ago in Paris

.

[RedSock]

19. bah! why, in my day ....

bah! why, in my day we crapped on the subway platforms and pissed in newspaper boxes.

.... bunch o' whiney, pampered kids today!!

[silverweb]

21. I sure hope these things are heated in winter.

Can you imagine the 911 calls for frozen tushies stuck to stainless steel?