The Big Apple’s Communist, anti-Semitic Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week (yes, that kind of intro is called “poisoning the well,” and I don’t care) announced that the first two high-tech modular bathrooms (of 17) that the city ordered earlier this year from Throne Labs are now on city streets. The rest of the restrooms will come online soon.
Wait, what? How does a bathroom come “online” ? This is how: The new public toilets can only be accessed by texting a number via a smartphone or by using special tap cards, which will be distributed by non-profit organizations in the community. There is strict 10-minute time limit on the things. A speaker inside the room will announce via bot that pooping-time is running out. Next the desperate user will hear in English and Spanish, “Attention: Your use time has expired! The door is opening now!” Then the door will slide open, exposing the user to the world. If someone doesn’t vacate the robo-bathroom at that point, Throne Labs personnel will get an alert to investigate, and if, necessary, call the police.
This system is allegedly necessary because NYC, which no longer observes the “broken window theory” and will not arrest someone for relieving themselves in public, decided that the public urination problem was becoming…serious. But how many public pissers have smart phones?
When I told a friend about this innovation today, he said, “There’s got to be something unethical about that.“
Your Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz of the Day:
Unethical? Well, I don’t know about that. There’s certainly an ick factor involved.
On the other hand, it can be unethical to propose a solution to a problem that doesn’t solve the problem. Urgent needs are not all the same and don’t always wait for a smartphone entry. Additionally, some needs take longer than others. What dilemma does Mamdani hope to fix here?
He won’t stop the homeless from public urination. He will inconvenience those bathroom users who are not one-size-fits-all in their needs. He will also provide a, presumably, private place where prostitutes and drug dealers can have guaranteed ten minutes of privacy to make their transactions.
Look to NYC’s public housing to forcast the not to future state of these commodities!
The lack of public toilets in major cities around the world is the bane of travelers everywhere except China, where free facilities are much more common. Japan is also not bad.
I have had occasion in my travels to use such public toilets. Depending on the country and city they can be surprisingly clean, sometimes stocked with supplies, sometimes free, sometimes a charge of a Euro. There is always a time limit to deter the homeless from taking up residence (squatting).
Other times they descend into hellish condition, useful only in the most dire of emergencies. And some become locked eyesores.
I have read details about the NYC toilets and they have the potential to be a real help depending where they are placed. There is more than one time prompt, and 10 minutes has been shown to be enough 95% of the time. If they are placed only in homeless encampments they will become hellish, filthy, disgusting, especially if there are no supplies.
I am absolutely not a fan of Mamdani, but he didn’t create the mess. His effort to provide some relief will probably fail as so many liberal policies have, but in some places these types of toilets are a success.
Unethical – no. Doomed to fail – probably.
Oooh…OOOOHHHHH…the Warmth of Collectivism continues apace!
Will they be along the route of the Free Buses…or in the vicinity of the Free Grocery Stores…?
Free (frē) adverb/adjective/noun:
At _The_Expense_Of_Others.
The City That Never Sleeps is being shaven by a DRUNKEN BARBER, and will sooner, rather than later, run out of Other People’s Money!
PWS
Any predictions about the hygiene in those bathrooms, given the intended users (the homeless)? Or will these bathrooms be used by junks for shooting up in private? Somebody walks by one of those bathroom on her way to work, and it automatically opens revealing a man sitting with his pants down doing … well you know what I mean…
From their website: “Fun fact: 98% of Americans own some kind of cell phone (according to Pew Research Center). But for those who don’t have a phone, phoneless entry cards can be provided to local libraries, homeless service providers, and other advocacy groups for distribution.”
I think they are intended for visitor areas more than homeless encampment areas. In Seattle they are near Pioneer Square and the stadium district. In Atlanta, they are in parks and the Beltline access points. In LA, they are near bus and rail stations. In DC, they are near the National Mall, Dupont Circle, a couple of parks, near courthouses, and Eastern Market. The only one that I wonder about is Columbia Heights, and only because Gemini describes it as “vibrant, dense, urban”. I’m not familiar with the area, so I may be getting the wrong impression. (It’s the “vibrant” I don’t trust.)
Definitely won’t end up like these cost effective units – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4N3XK9cXCtg