Monday edition: The Fight Over "Bathroom Acoustics"

+.a few things to read #56

The closed public restroom, from the court filings.

This week I wrote about a family living in a five bedroom, four bathroom duplex inside the Pierhouse Condo in Brooklyn Bridge Park — and their fight over the public restroom below their home.

Although they sued in 2020, I didn’t see it until a listing in The City Record last week that sought an expert to adjust the “bathroom acoustics” at the restroom underneath the condo. It brought me to the suit and the years-long fight over flushes.

Quick facts: The bathroom was there first. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation already renovated the bathrooms after the family first complained, shuttering it for a few months from mid-March 2020 until that July 4. But it didn’t do enough to muffle the sound of bathroom stalls and hand driers (they also complained about the noise of the nearby BQE and a ventilation tunnel for the MTA.)

The family wants more to be done, and throughout the lawsuit the bathroom has been closed at times, with the city’s law department having to go to court to re-open it.

As I read through the lawsuit I of course thought about the fact that it can be so difficult to find a public restroom in our giant city. People have made their own maps and apps to help find them. Councilmember Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn introduced a bill last month that would require the city to create a comprehensive bathroom strategy, requiring a certain number of toilets per capita.

The whole apartment complex is there as part of the deal to build private spaces in a public park as a way to generate money for the park. One other important fact:

Five million visitors came to Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer. And most people have to go at some point!

Read more here.

💫 Other interesting reads 💫

Big Weed is about to surge [THE CITY]
Enrollment drop and fiscal cliff loom as new school year begins [CHALKBEAT]
Legal Aid sues to see canceled jail medical visits info [THE CITY]
More budget cuts are coming [POLITICO]
The ground is collapsing under Canarsie homes and nobody knows how many are affected [THE CITY]

A thoughtful read on this anniversary day.

”Over the past 22 years, we have heard about the Sept. 11 children, the kids whose parents never came home that evening. But we hear very little of those whose parents survived. Perhaps because it is a sort of privilege to have my mother still with me. But the experience of being the child of a survivor is a profound one in its own right.”

🎧LISTEN🎧

We all talked about week’s hot topics on FAQ NYC, and also the rapper Shine [FAQ NYC]

Speaking of FAQ, we had a really cool storytelling salon last week and hope to post some of the stories on upcoming episodes. The whole thing felt like the type of New York City event you see in the movies — just a bunch of strangers in a beautiful, old loft sharing our weird and wonderful New York City stories. Thanks for all who came out and we look forward to doing more!

Thanks for reading!