It’s not every day you see a new wrinkle in the world of portable sanitation. But a recent story at the Gothamist — a website covering the culture and news of New York City, produced by New York Public Radio — made me sit up and take notice. Restroom companies really do come up with new and novel approaches to offering much-needed relief.

This time it is Uncle John Portable Restrooms & Services, based in Brooklyn, New York, that offered a public service idea that — at the outset — restroom users loves and the city government doesn’t appear to know how to handle. A worker for the PRO set up two units at the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge and let anyone use it for free or a free-will donation.Uncle John didn’t have a contract with the city to place the restrooms and didn’t expect to turn a profit for the effort. The mission is to give back to the community and make sure New Yorkers and visitors have a place to use a restroom when they need it most, says Juda Hoffman, who handles logistics for the company.

GIVING BACK

“We’re a company that is based on giving back to the community. We want to put bathrooms where there aren’t any bathrooms. We found this location and tested it out,” Hoffman explains. “Giving back is part of our DNA and it hits what we stand for in our company.”

And the Brooklyn Bridge was a fitting place to start. According to the Gothamist article, some 30,000 pedestrians crossed the bridge daily, according to a 2018 study. The article explained there are only a few public restrooms in a several-block area near the bridge entrance. Also, it said New York is ranked 93 out of 100 major U.S. cities for providing public restrooms per capita. It explained that the problem was heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts local residents, tourists and the homeless.

Another story about the Uncle John restrooms from PIX-11 News said that the NYC Parks Department has 680 public restroom facilities serving a population of 8.5 million people. The city is looking for ways to add more public bathrooms, according to the story, but doesn’t appear to have any kind of permit process to allow the free pop-up restroom service Uncle John employed.

Consequently, the city shut down project shortly after it started. According to the Gothamist, officials put a stop to it after a few days, right after its reporter called the parks department asking questions about Uncle John.

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST

Hoffman says all local businesses should find ways to help those in need. Just as a baker might provide bread for the needy, it makes sense for a restroom operator to offer relief in areas where there is an obvious need, he adds.

The timing of the free restrooms made sense from a logistics point of view, Hoffman says. These units were placed during the winter season when demand is lower. During summer months, the company’s inventory is hired out elsewhere. It’s just wise use of resources, he says.

“This is a new thing and we wanted to see what the feedback was. And the feedback was very overwhelming,” he continues. There have been media interviews and praise from the public for providing the restrooms with an attendant to keep the units clean. All with no expectation of payment — the worker didn’t push for donations, observers said.

Hoffman says he doesn’t know if donations for the few days the units were offered will cover expenses. But if the offerings helped cover the cost of keeping the units up to the company’s cleanliness standards, all the better.

Hoffman says the company is in uncharted territory offering free restrooms on the street and he doesn’t know if they’ll be allowed to continue.

“The truth is I don’t know if there are any permits for portable restrooms. I don’t think there are companies doing this idea, not this way. We’re pioneers, as they say,” Hoffman says. Will they succeed in securing permission in the future? 

“That’s the multimillion dollar question. There’s a popular quote that ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.’ I’m assuming there is some truth to that,” he says. “We planted the seeds. We did our thing. If the permitting process gets more complicated, we’ll see. Hopefully it will turn into a bigger thing.”

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

When I called Hoffman, he was coy about sharing too many details about Uncle John, saying only that the company has been around for a few years and has “a couple” of employees. It just goes to show you don’t have to be big to pursue bold ideas. This experiment sure captured my attention and started me wondering if others will follow suit.

There may have been an element of “just shoot and ask questions later” by dropping the restrooms without notice. But I have to give credit to Uncle John for a unique idea and a desire to contribute to society in a meaningful way. If nothing else, this should bring continued attention to the lack of public restrooms in our urban centers.

Do you have a new and interesting idea for PROs to give back to their communities? Have you offered free pop-up restroom service to serve the 

general public, nonprofit events or the homeless? We’d love to share your story to present these ideas to the entire portable sanitation industry. Drop me a line at editor@promonthly.com.