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Scenes like this, people lining up to use a public restroom in...

Scenes like this, people lining up to use a public restroom in Manhattan, have sparked plans to add new restrooms and renovate existing ones citywide. Credit: AP/Verena Dobnik

If you can make it there, you'll be able to go almost anywhere — at least that's the goal.

New Yorkers in need of answering nature's call will have more places to do it, thanks to a $150 million investment in new city public restrooms and renovations to existing ones.

City officials and Long Island’s top social media “bathroom influencer” were on hand Monday as Mayor Eric Adams announced the plan, which, over the next five years, will add 46 public restrooms and shore up 36 more out of 1,000 citywide.

“We all know finding available restrooms is a real challenge, particularly raising children in the city. It brings about an additional challenge,” Adams said. The lack of public restrooms, he added, is a barrier to enjoying “everything the city has to offer.”

The plan calls for 28 new bathrooms in Manhattan, 23 in Brooklyn, 14 in Queens, 10 in the Bronx and seven in Staten Island. Renovated restrooms will have improved accessibility, more stalls and energy efficient features, officials said.

A study last year by the city parks department found that about 70% of New Yorkers live within 10 minutes of a public restroom. Adams said the city is working to increase that ratio to 95%.

The city has an official shared list of restrooms that is overlaid on Google Maps. It is adding a Google Maps layer from got2gonyc.com founder Theodora “Teddy” Siegel, an opera singer from Long Island who has curated and rated the best public and private bathrooms in the city.

Included within the map layer will be restrooms operated by city parks, transportation, the MTA and the city’s privately owned public spaces. It also will include all public libraries in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The MTA also recently reopened 61 public restrooms in subway stations.

Siegel, who attended Monday's announcement, said she started her map and rating website after struggling to find restrooms in Times Square. Siegel said she created the website to share accessible bathroom information but also to break down the stigma of not knowing where to go or whom to ask.

She said she now has 500,000 followers with thousands of editors offering updates.

“Over the last three years I’ve learned from my community that New York City’s lack of publicly accessible restrooms is not only a quality-of-life issue and a public health issue, but an equity crisis,” Siegel said. “I am so excited the city is taking action to tackle this crisis by renovating and building bathrooms throughout the city … It is my hope that one day New York City will be a place where everyone has access to a safe and sanitary toilet whenever they’ve got to go.”

City parks officials said each public bathroom will be cleaned daily. 

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