http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/12/holy_crap_penn_station_has_3_places_to_poop.php#more
Penn Station entertains 650,000 visitors each day. And if at any given time even a small fraction of them want to use the bathroom, there's a good chance they could be waiting awhile.
Interesting video in the article showing how to find the only drinking fountain..
Only six restrooms for 650,000 people? Could be a sneaky way of making sure nobody hangs around the place.
As the old song says, "Get in, get out, quit muckin' about..."
Why Does Penn Station Only Have Six Public Bathrooms for 650,000 People?
Part of this is the minimum time most of those people spend in the station complex; very likely a more important part is the hundreds of (much cleaner and safer!) bathrooms that enter and leave the station every hour passengers are traversing it.
Interesting problem........however, wasn't it true in the 50's and 60's of stations this size that the public had to pay to use the toilet. Used to be true of Union Station in Chicago until modern building design firms in Milwaukee, WI revealed that folks living in Illinois were full of s*it and needed to have free toilets.
Only six toilets? Toronto Union Station "entertains" 300,000 people per day and there's only one washroom. Per sex, that is.
Kind of on the same subject ... Saw this program on PBS last night.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/
In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed.
I was glad to see that documentary finally aired. It was in "fundraising" mode for a long, long time.
Penn Station was never an efficient railroad station. It was always a corporate centerpiece that emphasized pride and beauty over functionality. Even though this documentary piece does not say this, all of the actual activity happened beneath the first level, and commuters from Long Island never saw the main floor. These lower levels were preserved, more or less, when Madison Square Garden was built.
Whatever facilities that existed for passengers were on the demolished main floor and private waiting rooms for a dime a visit. The rest rooms that are there now are just there to say that a food-serving building has functioning rest rooms.
As a former resident of the NYC Metro area, we all knew that you should never, ever visit a GCT, Port Authority, or Penn Station bathroom for any reason.
aegrotatioAs a former resident of the NYC Metro area, we all knew that you should never, ever visit a GCT, Port Authority, or Penn Station bathroom for any reason.
PABT has celan bathrooms. Even Times Square has clean bathrooms with an attendant. That is to say you must get a key from the attendent. The worst are in some of the newest stations: Coney Island comes to mind. Maybe because the restrooms in the older stations were all closed.
Not that they were ever any good restrooms, but "in the day" you had coins locks on all of the stalls, and you had to drop a nickel to use them. State came and outlawed pay toilets, the locks were removed, the facilities went to heck, and the agents put "out of order" signs on them. Eventually the signs went away and the rooms remained locked. Rooms are unmarked, but the booth does have the key if you can show your employee badge.
Public doesnt give a for public restrooms. All are questionalble. Plan you trips through the city. Fast food joints have clean restrooms, hotel lobies have clean public restrooms. There are public restrooms in all restraunts and bars, and there are private restrooms in most stores. If you are a customer there, just ask and they will point the way.
As for the stations, they really do not need all that many. You are coming from your office, where you presumabily used the facility before you left, or you are coming from a bus or train which also has restrooms.
Good clean public restrooms and even bathrooms are a good idea, especially for the homeless who could also use some dignity before anything else. Ain't nobody going to provide them, they cost money. The days of the big public baths seem to be gone, maybe they should come back again.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
GERALD B GIBSONCan you imagine the filthiness of each and every restroom if even only a small fraction of the 650,000 people use one of the restrooms? I would be loathe to touch even the door handle, outside or inside, much less use the facilities. Yuck!
@Gerald B Gibson:
I wish the forums had a "Like" button. I totally agree!
Angela Pusztai-Pasternak, Production Editor, Trains Magazine
I assume the Amtrak 1st-Class Lounge has decent facilities ---for Amtrak 1st-Class passengers.
There might be First Class bathrooms in New York (I believe there is a lounge behind a wooden door somewhere). As far as I could find there are not any in Washington DC.
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