The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s crusade to reopen its subway station bathrooms hit its peak last summer, with 58 stations reclaiming their relief rooms after being shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency told BK Reader that it plans to open all 133 public restrooms by the end of the year. And yet at the Flatbush Avenue 2/5 station, a former bathroom is now being used as a staff locker room.
Several MTA employees, who all asked to be unnamed, recently told the BK Reader that they weren't sure why the bathroom was converted to a staff room. One worker said he heard the restrooms would be moved to a different location within the station, but wasn't sure when this would happen.
Shaquanna Herbert, a traveling nurse that was waiting for a train at the station, said it’s hard enough finding a bathroom to use in the city and the current closures creates inconveniences for her and other customers.
“They [the MTA] have enough money in the budget to situate the station for employees,” said Herbert. “We have elderly people, we have sick people and diabetic people that constantly need to use the bathroom. We’re constantly spending our money on the train so we should have a decent bathroom to use.”
Before the pandemic, male and female restrooms stood beside each other. Now, behind the wall where both bathrooms once stood is an employee facility.
MTA spokesperson Meghan Keegan confirmed to BK Reader over email that “a restroom was permanently converted to an employee facility.” Keegan also stated that a unisex bathroom at Flatbush Avenue would reopen later this year, but did not specify a reopening date for the bathrooms or at any of the remaining nine stations with closed restrooms.
The agency also didn’t provide a reason why the restroom was converted into a staff room.
Subway rider Leon John, 65, was not pleased with the continued loo closure.
“I think it’s disrespectful,” said John. “We’re patrons and taxpayers. It’s [bathrooms] not just supposed to be for the train workers, it’s supposed to be for everybody.”
Straphanger Adrian Fox said the restroom-to-employee facility rings a familiar childhood memory. His father, who worked for the MTA, would occasionally bring him along to work and recalls visiting a station facility with him that appeared to have a past life as a bathroom.
“I call it their playroom– it had a kitchenette and a mini dining table,” said the 38-year-old who recalled that the floor had an imprint of a toilet base. “It was nice that they had their own set up, but at the same time, what about the public?”
A New York Times article from 1982 about subway bathrooms being converted to employee facilities reflects Fox’s flashback. The agency slashed the number of bathrooms in the 80s to 204 from 788, while boosting employee facilities to 463 from 288. The transit spokesperson quoted in the 1982 story cited low usage and safety concerns for the planned closures.
*Are any of your regular station bathrooms still closed? Let us know which stations you have to “hold it in” for by commenting below.
