The new public bathroom in Grand Army Plaza will be a welcome relief.
The city’s third hi-tech john — across the street from the Brooklyn Public Library’s main branch — will be completed later this fall and is expected to fill an urgent need for facilities outside of Prospect Park.
“We’re thrilled,” said Tupper Thomas, the administrator of Prospect Park. “It’s quite fabulous — it’s a fancy kind [of bathroom].”
The new lavatory will cost 25 cents to use, and automatically cleanses itself after each visit.
Monty Dean, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation — the agency installing the fancy facility — detailed some of the amenities.
“Each automatic public toilet is climate-controlled and includes a toilet, a wash basin with running warm water, and a mirror,” said Dean. “An automated system controls the door and prevents unauthorized entrance.”
Once each user has had 12 minutes to finish his or her business, an alarm and red flashing lights go off for three minutes and then the door opens, setting the stage for a potentially embarrassing moment before the throngs of parkgoers at Grand Army Plaza.
Thomas said that the restroom would cater to the hordes who shop at the farmers market on Saturday, along with the thousands of other visitors to the park.
“That is an area of the park that has no facility,” said Thomas. “Unless the library is open there is practically nothing!”
Thomas added that the restroom would encourage parkgoers to venture beyond Prospect Park.
“It’s all part of our plan to make people use Grand Army Plaza more — to make it more a part of the park,” she said.
