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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office just rolled out a shiny new experiment: 17 app‑enabled public toilets across the five boroughs, run by Throne Labs under a roughly $4 million pilot contract. It sounds helpful in a city that really does need more bathrooms. But when reporters pressed the mayor about well‑known failures in other cities, his answers sounded more like hope than a plan. Below is the rollout clip and a closer look at what this pilot really means for New Yorkers and taxpayers.
What the city is actually installing
The headline: a one‑year, $4 million pilot to deploy 17 modular, ADA‑accessible public restrooms around New York City, delivered and maintained by Throne Labs under an NYCEDC contract. The units are free, have running‑water sinks, flushing toilets, baby‑changing stations, climate control and app or “tap card” entry for people without phones. Officials say units will be open roughly 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., cleaned frequently (Throne claims “on average every 15 uses or fewer”), and include timed warnings and automatic door openings to discourage long stays; staff will also receive naloxone training for overdoses.
Why critics raised their hands — and why they’re right to
Reporters at the rollout rightly pointed to bad examples elsewhere. Modular and automated toilets have a history of becoming magnets for drug use, sex work or encampments when left without solid oversight. San Francisco’s very public $1.7 million public‑toilet controversy is the cautionary tale many conservatives and taxpayers remember. Techy sensors and flashing lights are fine as gadgets, but they don’t replace boots on the ground, security, outreach teams, or sensible procurement and cost controls.
Dave Rubin’s criticism and the politics behind the rollout
Conservative commentators like Dave Rubin circulated clips from the press conference to make the political point: this is emblematic of a city that prefers flashy experiments to real accountability. Rubin’s angle is straightforward — if you ignore past problems in other cities, you risk repeating them here. That’s a fair political jab. The mayor and Throne pitched this as a pilot to test solutions; pilots are fine, but pilots also need strict public reporting, hard metrics, and independent oversight.
What New Yorkers should demand next
Taxpayers deserve a clear scoreboard: use statistics, cleaning logs, incident reports, 311 or NYPD data, and the full procurement contract. Community boards and local businesses should get a say on placement. If the city is serious about restroom access and public safety, it will pair these units with staffed options, outreach, and proven social services — not just hope a smart toilet and an app will solve big social problems. Call it what you will, but installing toilets without a plan for human problems is both expensive and, frankly, a little foolish.
