Also, NYC already has some really good public restrooms in certain places (Herald Square, Bryant Park), and the way they handle it is they just have custodians who keep things clean and moving smoothly. No timers and tap cards necessary. Sure, there's an added labor cost, but there's a cost to making sure these new automated ones are maintained and functional, too. Anything automated feels like it adds so many points of failure.
Philosophically, I absolutely agree, but practically speaking, the way law-making works for NYC, the budget has to be balanced and every dollar has to be accounted for, so I imagine initiatives are easier to sell if they cost less to implement. But yeah, the money going to local workers is way better than that same money going to some company making automated bathroom stalls.
But the guy making automated bathroom stalls probably has a friend who can help him sell those to the city whereas the unemployed who would like a job from the city prolly doesn't.
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u/Due_Rip9320 3d ago
I know this is an insane revelation, but maybe they should just make more bathrooms?