As a sign of good government, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is making public bathrooms a top priority, even though there are bigger problems like housing and transportation. There is a serious lack of toilets in the city, with only one for every 8,500 people. Mamdani pointed out that New Yorkers have to rely on business goodwill or expensive coffee to use public restrooms, which shows how unequal the economy is.
Mamdani promised $4 million to build 20 to 30 modular, self-cleaning public toilets all over the city, starting with a new one in West Harlem. You can get to these high-tech units through smartphones with motion sensors. They cost about $100,000 a year per site from companies like Throne Labs. The project comes after a City Council bill in 2025 that required 1,000 new bathrooms to be built over ten years, with bids being sought for quick, low-cost installations.
Poor access to restrooms makes delivery workers and vendors use bottles, which is bad for people with health problems and can lead to outbreaks of diseases like Hepatitis A in other places. It also hurts businesses—San Francisco spends millions of dollars a year cleaning up the streets—and keeps people from going to the park. Mamdani sees this “unglamorous” fix as proof that the government is providing comfort and respect.
