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One of NYC’s worst bathrooms gets new life after $5.6 million makeover
By
Liam Quigley
Published Apr 14, 2025
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Liam Quigley
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Liam Quigley
Published Apr 14, 2025
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Four public bathrooms in Tompkins Square Park are coming back to life after a two-year, $5.6 million overhaul.
The New York City Parks Department shut down the Tompkins Square Park field house two years ago after its infamous restrooms had been long ranked among the worst in the city. The dirty and decrepit bathrooms had become so odious that those brave enough to enter would hold their noses as they did their business.
Now, the fully renovated bathrooms feature gleaming porcelain and recessed heaters for the winter months.
The interior of a gorgeous new bathroom at Tompkins Square Park.
Liam Quigley
A section of the park near the Slocum memorial fountain is also reopening with new play areas, picnic tables, and ADA-compliant ramps. The park’s mini pool is also set to reopen after two summers of repairs to shore up the foundation which had begun listing with age.
The pristine new bathrooms will be kept under careful surveillance to make sure they stay that way, said Tricia Shimamura, the parks department’s Manhattan borough commissioner.
“ They will have regular hours, we will be monitoring it really closely,” she said. The bathrooms will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Shimamura acknowledged that the bathrooms had become known for drug use, but said that those problems were not unique to Tompkins Square Park.
“ With the building being so outdated and needing so much work, it just kind of welcomed like a lot of bad activity,” she said.
A newly reopened area in Tompkins Square Park
Liam Quigley
Ronald Rayford, 62, said he's avoided the bathrooms at the park for decades because of drug use and overflowing urinals.
“They were as nasty as nasty could be. There was a lot of piss in the urinals. There was a lot of piss on the floor. There was a lot of, um, doodoo in the toilets,” he said.
“ Some people, they didn't mind, some people were going in there and shooting up.”
The restrooms’ poor reputation was well-earned, according to parkgoers like 24-year-old Ray Steele.
“When I was a kid, they were a problem. They had no stalls. It was just a bunch of toilets lined up. You walk past, it'd be a problem,” Steele said.
Home health care worker Maria Cepeda, 50, said she had long avoided using the bathrooms.
“Oh my god. Inside and outside, not good,” said Cepeda.
A new play area is painted like the board game Chutes-and-Ladders
Liam Quigley
The men’s and women’s restrooms are supplemented by two children’s restrooms on the northern side of the building.
The mayor’s office put up the $5.6 million in funding to overhaul the bathrooms, while the parks department relied on its in-house team of carpenters and other workers to redo the area of the park near the Slocum memorial fountain.
The picnic tables were made by parks department carpenters, and a former sprinkler area has been replaced by a playing board reminiscent of Chutes-and-Ladders painted on the ground. There are also two new ping pong tables near the memorial fountain.
“I feel ecstatic. I’m excited for a new beginning in Tompkins Square Park,” said Fia James, 26.
Tagged
new york city
manhattan
parks
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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