Gotta Go!!! Where's the Bathroom?

Let%26#39;s say I am walking around the greatest city in the world, and I have to use a bathroom, where would I go? Are restuarants happy to see me use their facilities? Are there gas stations? Whats the deal? Or should I just lay in a big supply of Depends and as they say, ';Forgetabout it';?

Gotta Go!!! Where's the Bathroom?

It depends on where you are in the city. Your best bet is to find the nearest major dept store/Barnes and Noble or Starbucks.

There are really cool self cleaning public restrooms, in Greeley Square/Herald Square. (Apparently these are quite state of the art and are even equipped to kick out people who try to make these a temporary home)

Plus any major Park or Tourist Attraction will have a restroom.

Gotta Go!!! Where's the Bathroom?

Gas stations are hard to find, and I probably wouldn%26#39;t use their restrooms! I can really only think of one or two in Manhattan, and you probably won%26#39;t be near them. There is a Starbucks on about every other corner, and they almost always let you use their restroom. Others often have the same idea, however, so sometimes there is a line. Barnes and Noble and some of the larger stores let you. I wouldn%26#39;t use a restaurant%26#39;s bathroom unless I was eating there. If you are in the vicinity of Macy%26#39;s or any of the other large department stores, however, they have several bathrooms.

I%26#39;d rather pee in the Port Authority than any Starbuck%26#39;s -- they are notoriously skeevy.

Restaurants are not only unhappy about letting you use their facilities, you%26#39;ll see signs posted that rest rooms are for customers only! If you%26#39;re desperate, it%26#39;s worth paying for a cup of coffee, though it somehow defeats the purpose. Barnes %26amp; Noble is always good -- their bathrooms are always in the children%26#39;s dept. And most hotels have public bathrooms, just ask the doorman. Dept. stores are good too. And most tourist sites are good. Public buildings, like Trump Tower, the AOL Time Warner Center, Grand Central, Penn Station, the Port Authority, etc., all have public facilities. Bryant Park%26#39;s bathroom is pretty clean, as are most of the bathrooms in Central Park (believe it or not!).

And try to travel on empty!

Cbcito, I think I used the convenience you are talking about and it automatically opens after 20mins.

I pass these every day on the way to work, and saw a segment on them on the Style Channel. Apparently the floors are like a conveyor belt, and when the door closes, it rotates exposing new floor and then the old floor gets cleaned. The walls have built in streams with bathroom cleaner, that clean the walls between patrons. I have never been inside them, so I don%26#39;t know what they are like, but they look pretty respectable from the outside.

I just pity the soul who%26#39;s lunch is disagreeing with them, and can%26#39;t get business done with the 20 minute limit.

Although they aren%26#39;t always an option, in my experience the bathrooms in the better hotels are usually the best experience in terms of cleanliness and overall ambiance.

Also, although I use them when necessary, I have recently found the bathrooms at Barnes %26amp; Noble and Borders to be extremely unappealing (messy, no toilet paper, etc.).

It%26#39;s usually fairly easy to find a decent bathroom in NYC, it just depends on what neighborhood you%26#39;re in. Look for a public library or, in a pinch, go into any fast food outlet. Don%26#39;t go to any bathroom in the subways (I never have!) or the Port Authority bus terminal. If you must go into the subway or bus terminal bathrooms, ask a cop to go in with you to check that no nefarious charecters are lurking about.

My favorite bathroom in the city, and my mothers too, are the ones in the basement of the Ralph Lauren Polo Mansion (72nd and Madison). In the men%26#39;s room they have that day%26#39;s New York Times framed above the urinals so you can read while you pee.

The bathrooms at Balthazar are also quite nice, as the attendant has the entire scent range of Creed cologne and toiletries. Whenever I am in Soho I usually stop in to freshen up there, just remember to tip.

Just go into any hotel and ask the concierge where the bathroom is. Sometimes he%26#39;ll tell you, sometimes he%26#39;ll hand you a key. There%26#39;s a hotel of one sort or another on just about every block.

Don%26#39;t go looking for a bathroom in Macys if you are bursting. They are there, just very difficult to find and male and female ones aren%26#39;t next to each other.