Shuttered Central Park Bathrooms Force Desperate Acts In Bushes

CENTRAL PARK, NY — A year and a half after the city shut down as the coronavirus swept New York, it feels like just about everything has reopened, from Broadway to restaurants to sports stadiums.

One exception: the bathrooms at the Conservatory Water in Central Park, which have remained shuttered for 19 months — much to the dismay of some neighbors.

Located steps away from the busy park entrance at East 72nd Street, the Kerbs Boathouse closed in March 2020 along with all nonessential businesses statewide, according to the Parks Department. Since then, however, the Le Pain Quotidien cafe inside the boathouse has remained shut — and so, too, have the men's and women's restrooms within it.

"I think it's a health hazard," said Lynne Cashman, an Upper East Side resident and frequent parkgoer who said she has witnessed several people relieve themselves in the wooded area behind the sailboat pond after discovering it was closed. (The closest open restrooms are at the Loeb Boathouse, a several minutes' walk away.)

Those who have taken the emergency step included small children, as well as a musician who left his bandmates and hopped over a fence into the bushes, Cashman said. Friends who volunteer at the Central Park Conservancy are "constantly" fielding questions about which bathrooms are nearest to the 72nd Street entrance, Cashman said, and her own queries to the Conservancy and city have gone unanswered.

Reached for comment on Tuesday, a Parks Department spokesperson said there was "good news" on the bathroom front.

"Parks has recently signed a new agreement with Le Pain Quotidien, with the goal to reopen the concession, and the restrooms, next month," department spokesperson Meghan Lalor said. The new agreement will soon be registered with the city comptroller's office.

It seems the relief can't come soon enough. During a 30-minute window Tuesday afternoon, Patch observed three people walk up to the Boathouse, approach the shuttered restrooms, then walk away.

Have a news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.