How About A “Broken Toilet” Theory Of Park Maintenance? Think Of It Like “Broken Windows,” Except With Stall Doors!

You have to admit, you’d think renovating those nasty-ass bathrooms would be a “phase one” sort of priority*:

Though Washington Square Park users are eager for improved public restrooms, the Parks Department renovation plan poo-poos popular sentiment.

The most dramatic elements of the renovation plan will occur in the first phase of the $16 million project, which includes installation of an almost 4-foot-high fence around the park’s perimeter; the reduction of the inner fountain circle; the leveling of the sunken plaza; and the fountain’s relocation and alignment with the arch.

The second phase will tackle the eastern half of the park, while a third phase is reserved for the restoration of utility buildings, including the bathrooms.

Parks originally said the redesign would take up to two years, during which the western and eastern halves of Washington Square Park would close alternately.

The timing of the bathroom renovation, however, remains uncertain. Though Parks plans to completely reconstruct the bathroom house, it has not yet determined whether this project will take place in phase two or three, according to Cristina DeLuca, a Parks spokesperson.

. . .

Data collected over the past two years indicates that Washington Square Park visitors agree with Greenberg. Of the 306 parkgoers polled by the Open Washington Square Park Coalition in fall 2005, 85 percent wanted the restrooms upgraded “as soon as possible.”

A study conducted by the Project for Public Spaces in 2005 found that restroom renovation topped respondents’ wish lists.

The P.P.S. report concluded that in the bathroom’s current condition, parkgoers’ safety was at stake.

“Negative activity dominates here [in the restrooms], especially at night. And despite their proximity to park administration buildings and the dog run, the restrooms are probably the least safe part of the park,” the report stated.

The public restrooms are located on the park’s south side, in a small, red-brick building.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, a powerful stench emanated from the men’s facility, inspiring hesitation at the threshold. Later, a homeless man, his cart of belongings parked outside the stalls, washed his upper body at one of the sinks.

George Martin, a musician who was visiting the park Sunday afternoon, admitted that the Parks Department could “keep the bathrooms a little cleaner.”

“A little?” added his friend Steve Scott.

Martin then acknowledged that in the more than the 30 years that he’s visited the park, the men’s bathroom has remained in a consistently sorry state.

“You just gotta hold your breath and go in and out,” he said.

Especially because it seemed like it was kind of like a priority or something.