Proposed Int. No. 694-A
By Council Members Nurse, Farías, Joseph, Won, Hanif, Gutiérrez, Louis, Ung, Restler, Hudson, Brooks-Powers, Williams, Cabán, Ossé, Avilés, Rivera, Brewer, Banks, Menin, Krishnan, Marte, Narcisse, Bottcher, Brannan, Sanchez, Schulman, De La Rosa, Abreu, Feliz and Vernikov
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to a long-term citywide bathroom strategy and to make other technical changes
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subchapter 1 of chapter 1 of title 3 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 3-119.11 to read as follows:
§ 3-119.11 Citywide bathroom strategy. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Accessible. The term “accessible” means that a facility complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws relating to accessibility for persons with disabilities, including, but not limited to, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as codified at chapter 126 of title 42 of the United States code.
Bathroom. The term “bathroom” means a facility containing one or more toilets with toilet paper and one or more washbasins with hand soap.
Gender neutral public bathroom. The term “gender neutral public bathroom” means a public bathroom that is made available for use by persons of any sex.
Menstrual friendly public bathroom. The term “menstrual friendly public bathroom” means a public bathroom that has a mechanism for dispensing menstrual products and may include a mirror, shelf, hook, and a menstrual product disposal bin.
Modular public bathroom. The term “modular public bathroom” means a public bathroom that is prefabricated and designed for installation in public spaces, including sidewalks and parks.
Public bathroom. The term “public bathroom” means a bathroom open for use to the public, including a bathroom located on land owned by the city, a bathroom operated or maintained by an agency or other public entity, or a bathroom owned, operated, or maintained by a private entity that is made available for public use.
Relevant agency. The term “relevant agency” means a deputy mayor designated by the mayor or any other agency or office designated by such mayor, provided that, the relevant agency shall collaborate with the department of city planning, the department of parks and recreation, the department of transportation, and any other agency or office the relevant agency determines to have experience and expertise relevant to the development of such citywide bathroom strategy.
Target metric. The term “target metric” means no less than 2,120 public bathrooms, of which at least half shall be publicly owned.
Underserved area. The term “underserved area” means a designation of an area of the city as having insufficient access to public bathrooms, because of a lack of public bathrooms or limited opening hours of existing public bathrooms, relative to localized needs, as determined by the relevant agency considering factors such as population density, estimated daily foot traffic, public transportation routes, distance to existing public bathrooms by walking or using a mobility device, land use including current commercial and tourist corridors, and equity concerns, as relevant.
b. Public bathroom strategic planning report. No later than September 1, 2026, and every fourth year thereafter, the relevant agency shall file with the mayor, the speaker of the council, the public advocate, each borough president, and each community board a strategic planning report to establish and maintain a citywide public bathroom network. The report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following components:
1. A strategic planning policy to expand and maintain access to public bathrooms that would meet or exceed the target metric. Such policy shall take into consideration, among any other factor deemed relevant by the relevant agency:
(a) Strategies and plans of the city that are relevant to public bathroom access, such as the 10-year capital strategy described in section 215 of the charter, the executive capital program described in section 214 of the charter, the long-term sustainability plan described in section 20 of the charter, and any plan approved pursuant to section 197-a of the charter;
(b) The distribution of existing and planned public bathrooms, including in relation to underserved areas; and
(c) The opening hours, accessibility, conditions, and design features of existing public bathrooms, to the extent known to the relevant agency, including in relation to underserved areas;
2. An assessment of capital commitments that, if included in the capital budget, would enable the city to meet the target metric, and to maintain the target metric after January 1, 2035, taking into account the city’s projected population growth;
3. Proposed benchmarks for the years 2030 and every fourth year thereafter that would demonstrate the city’s progress toward meeting or exceeding the target metric;
4. Strategies that would increase the number of existing, planned, or potential public bathrooms, that are (i) menstrual friendly public bathrooms, (ii) gender neutral public bathrooms, (iii) accessible to public transit, and (iv) accessible to taxi rest stops and micromobility hubs, as determined by the relevant agency;
5. Recommendations for legislative, zoning, regulatory, or policy changes that would enable the city to meet and maintain the target metric or exceed such target metric, taking into account cost and time efficiencies, equity considerations, and interagency coordination needs;
6. Recommendations for types of sites or facilities, whether publicly or privately owned, that if adapted, acquired, or leased by the city would contribute towards meeting or exceeding the target metric. Such recommendations shall include an estimate of the number of public bathrooms that each type of site or facility would be expected to yield citywide and potential challenges with providing public bathrooms for each such type. Such recommendations shall consider, but need not be limited to the following types of sites or facilities:
(a) Existing and planned bathrooms in city-owned or operated sites or facilities that could be converted to public bathrooms;
(b) Potential city-owned or operated sites or facilities that could provide public bathrooms;
(c) Existing or planned bathrooms in sites or facilities owned or operated by a public entity other than the city that could be converted to public bathrooms, including whether such bathrooms would be freely accessed without payment of a charge or fee;
(d) Existing and planned bathrooms located on privately owned sites or facilities that are available as or could be converted to public bathrooms through public-private partnerships, agreements, or programs;
(e) Sites identified as feasible and appropriate to install a public bathroom in the report submitted pursuant to local law number 114 for the year 2022, including any challenges identified with the installation and maintenance of such public bathrooms;
(f) Existing, planned, or potential sites or facilities managed by a contracted entity, as defined in section 22-821, that could provide a public bathroom; and
(g) Any other types of sites or facilities that the relevant agency deems suitable to provide a public bathroom;
7. One or more design models for a modular public bathroom that could be installed in variety of types of sites or facilities, as well as any recommendations to make the approval and installation of such bathrooms more efficient; and
8. A strategy for maintaining sanitary conditions and operation of public bathrooms maintained by city agencies
c. Map. Upon the submission of the report required by subdivision b of this section, an agency or office designated by the mayor shall post or update on its website and make compatible for access on a mobile device a map of existing and planned public bathrooms. Such map shall indicate the following information for each public bathroom, to the extent known by such agency or office:
(a) Current, seasonal, or planned hours of operation;
(b) Whether such public bathroom is in good repair and operational, excluding temporary closures;
(c) The extent to which such public bathroom is accessible;
(d) Whether access to such public bathroom requires payment of a fee or charge, to the extent known by the relevant agency;
(e) The agency or other entity responsible or to be responsible for maintenance of such public bathroom;
(f) For a public bathroom that is planned, the date by which such public bathroom is expected to be open;
(g) For a public bathroom maintained by a city agency, and to the extent such information may be reasonably obtained for any other public bathroom, other features of the public bathroom, such as changing tables and whether the public bathroom is a gender neutral public bathroom; and
(h) Information about the site of facility in which the public bathroom is found, whether private or public, to aid in the identification of such public bathroom.
§ 2. Sections 3-122 and 3-123 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law numbers 73 and 74 for the year 2024, respectively, are redesignated 3-119.9 and 3-119.10, respectively.
§ 3. This local law takes effect immediately.
Session 13
JG
LS #9003
4/2/2025 11:00 PM
Session 12
JLB
LS #9003
6/30/2023 1:20 PM