The best public bathrooms in NYC according to the city’s unofficial investigator
Chatting with someone about their public bathroom expertise feels a bit odd at first, albeit very amusing, but just a couple of minutes into my conversation with Theodora Siegel, the 24-year-old behind viral social media account Got2GoNYC, I realize that her affinity for powder rooms is about much more than having found an online niche worth exploiting.
Siegel has used her platform, where she reviews public bathrooms all around New York City, to advocate for basic yet often overlooked rights that involve New Yorkers’ access to clean public lavatories.
“People have to use the bathroom and it is not our fault that our government is really failing when it comes to providing these resources,” she tells Time Out New York.
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Siegel’s passion and social media reach landed her in front of the City Council back in the summer of 2022, when she partnered with Brooklyn Councilwoman Rita Joseph and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine to promote the Bathroom Bill, which passed in October of 2022. According to the new guidelines, the city is now required to identify locations in every zip code across all five boroughs where a public bathroom could be built.
"Progress was actually made towards fixing the issue and, since then, officials have introduced three more bills that I have been helping with," Siegel reveals.
According to the New York City Council, intro 1076 will allow the public to use "readily accessible bathrooms" in municipal buildings during business hours.
Intro 1077, on the other hand, mandates the actual building of the washrooms identified under the above-mentioned Bathroom Bill.
Intro 576, which has already passed, guarantees proper maintenance of the restrooms that we already have.
"Because if a bathroom is not well-maintained, we might as well not have it," says Siegel.
As any New Yorker knows, a leisurely walk around town always comes along with a sense of unease: what happens if I need the toilet? What if the neighborhood Starbucks won't let me access the restroom unless I buy something?
Siegel is very familiar with that sort of anxiety.
"I always had a small bladder and just needed to know where the closest bathroom always was," she explains.
In July of 2021, after graduating with a master’s degree in opera (she is a trained soprano!) and moving into her first New York City apartment, Siegel went out shopping in Times Square with her sister.
After a bit, she noticed she needed the restroom but couldn't find anywhere to go.
"My sister and I ran to multiple establishments and were told a similar story: the bathroom is closed due to COVID, we don't have a restroom for customers, the space is not accessible," she remembers.
She headed to a nearby McDonald's, begged to use the lavatory and was granted access after buying something.
"I bought a water bottle, ran up to the second floor and thankfully I didn't have an accident," she recalls. "After, I started thinking why this even happened to me and I wished there was a resource to find the closest bathroom. I also realized I could have just walked into McDonald's and gone up to the second floor without even asking for permission!"
That night, Siegel set up her now uber-popular TikTok account as a way to "keep track of" bathrooms around the city that she'd be able to use any time nature called.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“By the next day, the video of McDonald’s had 10,000 views,” she says. “I had no idea that people would even care, I just thought it was a way for me to publicly catalog these bathrooms but folks started giving me tips on locations, necessary codes and more.”
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These days, Siegel posts all sorts of bathroom-related content: from straight-up reviews to a restroom photobooths series and hilarious accounts of embarrassing tales focusing on the universal need to go.
"I never thought I'd speak about bathrooms so much to people," she says. "It's something private that people don't talk about but I have spoken to professors and folks I never thought I would interact with about this. It shouldn't be taboo or stigmatized. No change is going to happen unless we get comfortable talking about it."
When asked about what makes a public bathroom great, the expert is quick to mention cleanliness as “the most important thing” but also brings up ADA accessibility, the presence of changing tables and even multiple-layered toilet paper.
As for the best borough for toilet usage, Manhattan reigns supreme.
“Although there is actually a big dearth there, I think it’s because there are a lot of private establishments picking up the slack,” she supposes. “Manhattan is just so dense so you’ll probably find someone willing to accommodate your need for a restroom.”
Below, Siegel shares her favorite bathrooms in all of New York:
1. Bryant Park
“It’s so stunning and features freshly cut flowers, art hanging on the walls, self-changing toilet seat covers and attendants making sure it’s clean. Every single bathroom in New York should look like this!”
2. Apple Store on Fifth Avenue
"They have free menstrual products and are open 24/7!"
3. Bloomingdale’s in Soho
4. Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue
“They have STUNNING single-stall gender-neutral restrooms that are publicly accessible on every single floor except the first.”
5. Hoxton Hotel in Brooklyn
If you’re heading to Times Square this New Year’s Eve, make sure to check out her Times Square bathroom reccs!
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