After a long hiatus, 10 subway station bathrooms in Brooklyn are getting ready to answer nature's call once again.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority has announced plans to reopen the bathrooms in 18 subway stations across New York City over the summer, including five stations in Brooklyn.
Most of these station bathrooms will reopen by Labor Day, more than three years after their closure due to pandemic-related safety concerns. The bathrooms will reopen on a rolling basis, which began July 3.
Bathrooms at nine stations reopened in January 2023, followed by 12 stations throughout the spring. The bathrooms — one for men and one for women at each station — will be open daily from 7:00am-7:00pm, with an hour of cleaning from 12:00pm-1:00pm.
The Brooklyn subway stations to see reopened bathrooms this summer are Sheepshead Bay B/Q, 18th Avenue F, Myrtle/Broadway J/Z, Church Avenue F/G and Church Avenue B/Q.
“Reopening bathrooms is another way for New York City Transit to provide customers relief when they have to go on the go, for a more comfortable experience in the subway,” said NYCT President Richard Davey in a statement.
The refreshed bathrooms “show that NYCT is committed to providing faster, safer and better service to customers across the subway system,” Davey said.
The MTA used the closures to clean, repair and upgrade the facilities, according to the press release. This included installing new lighting, motion-activated faucets, soap dispensers, hand dryers, signage and painted privacy panels.
While some Brooklynites celebrated the reopenings, others have expressed concerns over safety, sanitation and service hours.
Marco Nicola, an employee of Brooklyn Pizza, which sits across the street from the B/Q Church Avenue station, told BK Reader he has mixed feelings about the new bathrooms and is concerned about the potential for drug use in the restrooms.
“To have a bathroom is better, but you have to be safe — safety is most important,” he said. “I don’t think it’s safe yet.”
On Twitter, a few commenters responded to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine’s post about the MTA’s announcement, voicing their concerns about the newly reopened restrooms.
One commenter wrote that they wouldn't use a subway station restroom unless there were security guards, and some commenters also criticized the hours of service, with one calling the 7:00pm close time “ridiculously early” and another arguing that the bathrooms should be open 24/7 like the stations themselves.
“After 7 pm nobody needs a bathroom? make it make sense!” one person wrote.
Many commented that they never use subway bathrooms, and the recent renovations will not change this.
However, all those interviewed by the BK Reader at the B/Q Line Church Avenue Station on July 5 were pleased with the reopenings.
Brooklyn resident Cleveland Clarke said the reopenings were a good thing for New York and that, if anything, they should have reopened sooner.
“They have been closed because of COVID, but COVID has been over for like, a year now, and they still haven't opened them,” Clarke said of the bathrooms.
“They need to open the bathrooms. It's a good idea,” said Jasen Ali, also of Brooklyn.
Ali said those who have long commutes need bathrooms at the stations they pass through. He dismissed the online criticism of the bathroom reopenings as “complaints” that are bound to arise whenever announcements like this are made.
“This is a public place, so I think that opening the toilets is good — very good,” Ali said.
