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Nearly every NYC park bathroom is set to get a diaper-changing station by 2027

Giulia Heyward

Published Apr 11, 2023

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The luxury bathroom at Bryant Park is open to the public on May 9, 2017 in New York. The free-of-charge public bathroom that cost nearly $300,000 is expected to have more than 1 million visitors a year according to park officials. The New York City Council passed a bill on April 11 that orders diaper-changing stations to every bathroom at a city public park.

DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images

Giulia Heyward

Published Apr 11, 2023

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Nearly every restroom inside a New York City public park is expected to have a diaper-changing station within the next four years, thanks to a vote by the City Council on Tuesday. It’s the latest step legislators are taking to make city parks more accessible and convenient for visitors.

“Despite being a place where families spend a great deal of their time, the lack of changing stations left parents changing their children’s diapers on park benches and equipment, and on their laps like I did and even on the ground,” Bronx Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr., one of the bill’s sponsors, said on Tuesday before members voted for the measure 49-0.

City law already requires changing stations be installed in bathrooms in new or recently renovated public spaces. Restrooms in public parks were excluded from the provision.

There are 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreational centers spread across the five boroughs, according to the city's parks department. More than half of the roughly 1,400 public park bathrooms have diaper-changing stations, according to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.

During a hearing to review the bill in March, the parks department’s First Deputy Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa said the agency supports a bill that would see more diaper-changing tables across the city’s parks.

Under the new measure, which is expected to take effect immediately, every qualifying public park restroom will have a “safe, sanitary and convenient” diaper-changing station by Dec. 31, 2027. The measure won’t extend to park bathrooms the city deems too small.

Building more restrooms – and making them more accessible – remains a long, costly process for the city. In areas where bathrooms previously didn’t exist, the city is forced to cover the cost of providing water and electrical services on top of constructing a restroom from scratch. In February, the city funneled $5.3 million into creating public restrooms in five parks that previously lacked them.

The diaper-changing stations could cost anywhere from $180 to $400 each, according to Brian Hetey, Salamanca’s deputy chief of staff.

“They’re supposed to have diaper-changing stations in every bathroom, they just haven’t done it,” Salamanca said. “We’re just holding them accountable.”

Tagged

bathroom access

new york city council

Politics

New York City Parks Department

news

Giulia Heyward

Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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