Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Throne Labs announced the $4 million pilot that began this week to install 17 modular restrooms across all five boroughs.
- The units unlock by text, QR code, the Throne app or a physical tap card that community groups will distribute, a design that homeless advocates warn could block access for people without phones or steady shelter.
- Each free bathroom is ADA-accessible, touchless, climate-controlled, includes a sink, flushing toilet and baby-changing station, and is limited to roughly a 10-minute visit with audio and visual warnings.
- Throne Labs will deliver, operate and maintain the units and the city says the pilot costs about $235,000 per unit and will use usage data to trigger cleaning after roughly 10 to 15 visits.
- Officials will monitor cleanliness, usage and equity outcomes during the yearlong trial as advocates press for clearer tap-card distribution and the city readies a broader restroom plan now delayed until November.