The Civic Issue
NYC has approximately 1,100 public toilets for 8.6 million people — one per 7,820 residents. Most are in parks with limited hours. Five "Portland Loo" units were piloted, 121 subway restrooms reopened (MTA, not city), and the city committed $150M for new construction, but the capital pipeline is slow and the gap is enormous.
Headline Spending
$46,549
identifiable in budget
Budget Lines (Adopted)
$11.9M
5 lines
Vendor Spending
$5.4M
3 vendors
| Line | Adopted | Spent |
|---|---|---|
Garrison Playground Comfort Station Main MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $0 | $26.0K |
Stillwell Avenue Comfort Station MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS | $0 | $20.6K |
Stillwell Avenue Comfort Station MAINT & OPERATIONS - OTPS | $0 | $0 |
OTB Ninth Avenue ADA Bathroom Renovation DESIGN & ENGINEERING OTPS (DDC) | $0 | $0 |
Tech Services Facility MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS (Parks) | $11.9M | $10.2M |
| BG NATIONAL PLUMBING & HEATING INC | $5.4M | 11 txns |
| Toilets To Go LLC | $13.3K | 6 txns |
| JOSEPHINE THE PLUMBER LLC | $10.9K | 2 txns |
Total Identifiable Spending
$46,549 dedicated (comfort station lines) within Parks' $687.6M total budget
Public bathrooms have essentially no dedicated operating budget in FY2026. Only two named comfort station lines exist — Garrison Playground ($55K modified, $26K spent) and Stillwell Avenue ($47K modified, $21K spent) — both unfunded at adoption and added mid-year. Parks' Maintenance & Operations department ($499.3M adopted) covers all facility upkeep including restroom maintenance, but there is no breakout for bathroom-specific operations. The $150M committed for new bathroom construction is not visible in the expense budget — it would be in the capital budget, which appears only as aggregate IOTB CONSTRUCTION spending ($487M total across all Parks capital projects with no project-level attribution).
The announced $150M capital commitment for public bathroom construction does not appear in the expense budget. Capital projects flow through DDC and the Parks capital budget (department codes 400-846-XXX), where individual comfort station projects cannot be isolated from playground renovations, park improvements, and other construction. The Portland Loo pilot units, subway restroom reopenings (MTA), and any new standalone restroom construction are all in capital budgets or external agencies not captured here. Parks' "Tech Services Facility" lines ($22M+ across boroughs) cover facility maintenance shops, not public restrooms, but the same staff maintains both.
Key Context
NYC has one public toilet per 7,820 residents, compared to Portland (1:1,200) and Paris (1:3,000). The 2024 "Right to Flush" coalition and advocacy campaigns led to the $150M commitment, but the capital pipeline for new restrooms is measured in years. The five Portland Loo units cost approximately $250K each installed — the $150M would fund roughly 600 units at that rate. Parks operates 800+ comfort stations in parks but many are seasonal, locked, or in poor condition. The Parks budget (0.6% of the total city budget) has been consistently underfunded, and restroom maintenance competes with all other facility needs within the $499M Maintenance & Operations department.