FIRST ON amNY | NYC EDC puts out call for vendors to design new modular public restrooms

The city’s quasi-governmental Economic Development Corporation called on vendors Friday to apply to design new modular public restrooms under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s $4 million pilot program, which will place the lavatories throughout the city.

The EDC’s request for proposals (RFP), which it shared exclusively with amNewYork before its Feb. 6 release, lays out criteria for companies bidding to design the public restrooms. It comes after Mayor Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced the pilot, which will test 20 to 30 modular restrooms.

Mamdani, in a statement, said the pilot is an effort to address the city’s widely lamented lack of functioning public restrooms — a problem many city officials have unsuccessfully sought to address meaningfully over the years.

“We’re taking concrete action to build dozens of new public restrooms across New York City,” Mamdani said.

The mayor added that having a place to use the bathroom should not depend on how much one makes, whether one works in a business that charges customers to use its restrooms, or what one does for a living.

“For delivery workers, street vendors, drivers, and so many others, the workplace is the street,” he said. “They don’t have an office bathroom to duck into, and they shouldn’t be punished for that. This is about building a city that works for everyone.”

Vendors interested in participating have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, to file their applications.

The RFP calls on contractors to submit designs for single-occupancy restrooms that adhere to universal design principles — making them usable for New Yorkers of “all ages and abilities” — do not require connections to water or electricity, are clearly marked as restrooms, and have contractless amenities. The vendors will also be responsible for installing and maintaining the units.

The Mamdani administration said it is piloting modular bathrooms rather than traditional public lavatories because they are far less expensive and can be installed much faster.

“These modular public restrooms will serve as a blueprint for high-quality, cost-effective infrastructure that improves quality of life for millions of New Yorkers,” said Jeanny Pak, the EDC’s Interim President & CEO, in a statement.

“EDC is proud to work with Mayor Mamdani and our partners across city government to quickly advance this RFP to deliver practical, scalable solutions that will meaningfully enhance daily life for all New Yorkers,” he added.

The effort is hardly the first time the city has piloted modular public restrooms. Last summer, former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration installed public toilets called Portland Loos in five parks across the city.

EDC will work with city agencies, such as the Parks and Transportation Departments, in choosing where to place the modular restrooms. All of the units are expected to be installed by this summer.

The city currently has close to 1,000 public restrooms, 70% of which are located in parks, according to the EDC.

Many of those facilities received low marks in a City Council report released in December, which found many of the city’s public bathrooms were closed during posted hours, dirty, or missing basic amenities. The council released a report the previous year that found two-thirds of public restrooms were either locked during operating hours or were unsanitary.