New York —Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to tackle huge problems in New York City like housing, mass transit and child care. Public bathrooms. Many of the city's roughly 1,000 public bathrooms are in subway stations. Stephen Chernin/Getty Images“We hit the nadir,” said Bryant Simon, a historian at Temple University and author of a forthcoming book on public bathrooms. Temperance leaders also advocated for public bathrooms to keep men out of bars, which were one of the only establishments with restrooms.

Source: CNN February 12, 2026 15:52 UTC