The New York City Economic Development Corporation has released a $4 million request for proposals to produce, deliver, install and maintain modular public restrooms in neighborhoods across all five boroughs, the agency announced Feb. 6.
The request for proposals seeks vendors to build high-quality modular bathroom units as part of a pilot program first announced in January by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. According to NYCEDC, the modular approach is intended to expand public restroom access citywide while delivering the bathrooms faster and more cheaply than traditional public toilets, which the agency said require extensive underground construction to connect to sewer and water lines and can take years to complete.
The agency said the announcement delivers on Mamdani’s commitment to issue the request for proposals within the administration’s first 100 days in office. The mayor made that commitment at 12th Avenue and St. Clair Place in upper Manhattan, where the New York City Department of Transportation will install a self-cleaning public toilet that NYCEDC said will be free to use, fully accessible and equipped with a water bottle filler.
City agencies including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Parks and Recreation are coordinating on the effort, according to the announcement. In materials accompanying the release, the administration framed the program as part of what it called fast-paced efforts to improve the lives of working New Yorkers. Details on the program were laid out further in a January mayoral announcement.
