Bathroom Goals: Bill Aims to Expand Public Toilet Access For World Cup

In expectation of a crush of soccer fans coursing through New York City during the upcoming World Cup, City Council Majority Leader Shaun Abreu has introduced a bill intended to expand access to public bathrooms during the tournament.

After all, nail-biting penalty kicks are known to generate the kind of emotional rollercoaster that makes a stop by the “loo” an urgent matter.

“No one should miss the winning goal because they couldn’t find a bathroom,” Abreu wrote on social media. “That’s why I’ve introduced a bill to expand public bathroom access during the World Cup—longer hours, more cleaning, and porta potties where the crowds will be.”

Abreu—who represents the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, West Harlem, Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights, and Washington Heights—has been on the public bathroom beat for months.

He joined Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin during a January presser on the subject, for example, where the three politicians highlighted a similar $4 million bathroom-expansion drive.

A recent New York City Independent Budget Office report on the state of available public bathrooms in New York City came to some rather dismal conclusions, at least for New Yorkers who may be in need of relieving their bladders.

“There is functionally one public restroom for every 8,697 people [in New York City],” the report notes. “Boston has around 1 for every 5,000 residents, and Chicago has around 1 for every 5,800 residents. In other words, New York City has one of the lowest rates of available public restrooms per [resident] for a major U.S. city.”

This toilet expansion, the text of Abreu’s bill notes, would come with a plan that would first identify “public spaces expected to receive increased foot traffic from World Cup activities.”

From there, officials would be tasked with the following urgent tasks: “Posting wayfinding signage directing the public to nearby available public bathrooms; extending the hours during which public bathrooms are accessible; installing temporary public bathrooms; increasing the frequency of public bathroom maintenance; prioritizing public bathrooms with accessibility features; and compiling and promoting a list of public bathrooms.”

This plan is due June 1, the bill notes, not long before the tournament kicks off on June 11. It’ll last until July 19.

The new World Cup bathroom bill is being co-sponsored by City Council Member Virginia Maloney, who represents Manhattan’s East Side, as well as a number of Council Members from Brooklyn and Queens.

Abreu isn’t limiting his World Cup legislative ambitions to the improvement of city restroom usage, either. He’s also introduced a bill that would publish a calendar of World Cup “activities,” such as recreational events and viewing parties.

Notably, this bill would task the city’s Department of Small Business Services with creating a map that would highlight the cultural connection of certain neighborhoods to certain nations competing in the tournament.

Abreu is also taking square aim at a newfound source of consternation for World Cup fans: the $150 fare bill that New Jersey Transit commuters will pay to attend matches across the Hudson at Meadowlands, up from the $12.90 that the same nine-mile ride usually costs.

Instead, the Council Member has proposed a separate ferry route from 125th Street in West Harlem to the New Jersey city of Edgewater, which he says will take less than ten minutes.