New Yorkers Inaugurate First Public Loo

Potty puns swirl at 'first flush' ceremony in Madison Square Park
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 10, 2008 6:09 PM CST
New Yorkers Inaugurate First Public Loo
Toilet paper was used instead of ribbon at the ceremony.    (Shutterstock)

If you can't hold it on the streets of New York, it's no longer necessary to sneak into a cafe john, the Times reports. The city opened the first of 20 pay toilets today, complete with a toilet-paper-cutting inauguration and "first-flush" ceremony. Until today, New York was one of the few cities that didn't help "people cope with so basic a need," one historian said.

The city failed in attempts at installing public toilets in the past, but this time around New York has struck gold: Spanish giant Cemusa is actually paying the city for the toilets in a package deal. The self-cleaning potties are state of the art: For a quarter, you get 15 minutes before the door opens automatically. But no late-night emergencies: They close after 8 p.m. (More toilet stories.)

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