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Finding an available bathroom in New York City is no easy task.
Asking where the bathroom is in a pizzeria or coffee shop only to be directed to the hotel across the street is very familiar to New Yorkers being out and about, and the pandemic only further complicated many of our quests to memorize the most accessible bathrooms in every neighborhood. (RIP Hudson St. Starbucks.)
While many have tried to document the best places to pee across the five boroughs, like this interactive toilet map, it’s still a struggle to find a good public, or semi-public bathroom when you’re out and about.
Enter the TikTok account @got2gonyc, which not only seeks out bathrooms in venues that are accessible to the public, but shares videos to give you a preview of your experience. The content is so good, in fact, that you may find yourself making a destination out of using the magical restroom at Harry Potter New York (935 Broadway).
Those without TikTok (who?), can also catch reposts of the content on Instagram Reels, also at @got2gonyc.
So far, the account has visited prime bathroom-less locations across the city and offered instructions on how to use the facilities. For example, The Marriot Marquis in Times Square has an accessible bathroom on the 6th Floor, SoHo’s Crate and Barrel has restrooms on the 2nd Floor, just up the escalators, and you too can be an Anna Delvey-esque swindler by sneaking into the bathrooms on the second floor of 11 Howard, the boutique hotel that was once her residence.
More “secret”’ bathrooms including public bathrooms underneath Rockefeller Center and the clean bathrooms at Brookfield Place downtown. The account also shares codes to locked bathrooms at chains like McDonalds, Taco Bell and Starbucks, but we all know those are subject to change with leaked public knowledge. Public venues, like libraries, are also known for accessible bathrooms. The account is also open to tips via email, got2gonyc@gmail.com.
Of course, these social media shared hacks aren’t necessarily the solution to fixing our city’s bathroom problem. Cities like Berlin offer low-cost public bathrooms near public transportation and Tokyo is known for its near-spotless public restrooms. With a population of over eight million people, New York City can do a lot more to offer all of us spaces to relieve ourselves.