Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Pay to pee: Pop-up NYC port-a-potties seek $1 donation for relief
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Dec 2, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gwynne Hogan/Gothamist
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Dec 2, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Some creative New Yorkers are offering relief to those enduring the consequences of the city’s lack of public restrooms — by setting up pay-as-you-wish port-a-potties at the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan.
The "entre-peeneurs" at Uncle John: Portable Restroom & Services were out on Thursday afternoon offering their facilities in exchange for a suggested donation of $1.
A Gothamist reporter heard a worker calling for the $1 donations, which were dropped in a large white bucket on a table beside a bottle of hand sanitizer.
When questioned about the new revenue stream, the worker, who only gave his name as Ronny, promised no one would be turned away if they couldn’t pay.
“If you gotta go, you can go if you want,” he said. “If you don’t got the money on you, next time. I still let them go.”
Tourists hailed the port-a-potties as ideally located and urgently needed. But the city's parks department shut down the port-a-party late Thursday, following a Gothamist inquiry.
“As these port-a-potties were unpermitted, we’ve asked the owner to remove them,” said parks department spokesperson Crystal Howard.
Morty Hoffman, reached at Uncle John’s offices, said the company had been in touch with the city over port-a-potties at other locations, though they were still “trying to work it out on the permits process.”
“There’s demand. People need a bathroom. That’s the bottom line,” Hoffman said, adding that they had started dropping the port-a-potties off in the morning and picking them up in the evening earlier this week. “I believe we’re doing the right thing over here. This is going to be a success.”
Jackie Graham, who was visiting from England with her daughter, called the port-a-potties “brilliant” before closing the plastic door.
“There’s no public toilets here. In England, there’s public toilets in every shop. And you can just go in and use them,” she said.
She and her daughter Kelly had been on the hunt for a bathroom for over an hour. The two lamented having to pay to use most restrooms in private businesses.
“We’ve really struggled,” Kelly Graham said. “They definitely need more toilets.”
The city estimates that 30,000 pedestrians crossed the Brooklyn Bridge each day in 2018. Nevertheless, there are only a handful of public restrooms within several blocks of the Manhattan entrance to the bridge, according to a map of public restrooms compiled by a Rutgers professor.
The low toilet tally is a citywide problem. A 2019 report from the city comptroller ranked New York 93rd of 100 major U.S. cities in terms of access to public restrooms per capita. The issue became even more dire during the pandemic, when many private establishments that had previously let people use their bathrooms stopped doing so. The problem was particularly stark for homeless New Yorkers.
The City Council passed a bill in October requiring the city to map out a list of all functional public restrooms and identify feasible locations for new ones by the end of 2023, though it stopped short of requiring the city to build more.
Relieved visitors said the commode was in pristine condition. Alain Lanz, a Newark resident who walked the bridge with a friend, said the port-a-potty was a welcome sight.
“It’s perfect,” Lanz said in Spanish. “We were looking for a bathroom and we found one. Many people need it.”
Brigid Bergin contributed reporting.
Tagged
manhattan
parks
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Feds blame NYC's sanctuary policies for violent ICE arrest
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE agents were unaware a child was in the vehicle they fired on during the arrest.
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 9, 2026 at 12:37 p.m. ET
NYPD rushed man shot by ICE to hospital in police SUV, bodycam footage shows
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said ICE officers fired at Oscar Belgal multiple times when he was in a car with his 5-year-old son.
By
Ben Feuerherd
News
NYPD rushed man shot by ICE to hospital in police SUV, bodycam footage shows
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said ICE officers fired at Oscar Belgal multiple times when he was in a car with his 5-year-old son.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Pencils down: NYC lawmakers want to switch back to paper tests as state mandates screens
By
Jessica Gould
Penn Station’s future could be determined by midterm elections
By
Stephen Nessen
ICE mistakenly arrested 2 men in the Bronx, then mounted cover-up, US judge rules
By
Arya Sundaram
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .