PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alison Wilkey, Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Campaigns at Coalition for the Homeless, on Public Bathroom Access
1:58:39
·
154 sec
Alison Wilkey, representing the Coalition for the Homeless and the Free to P Campaign, testified on the critical need for public bathrooms in New York City. She emphasized the challenges faced by unsheltered individuals and the inappropriate criminalization of public urination due to lack of facilities.
- Highlighted findings from a 2021 survey of 200 unsheltered New Yorkers, which identified lack of public bathrooms as a major challenge.
- Criticized the city's response, noting a 46% increase in summonses for public urination according to the recent mayor's management report.
- Shared experiences from the early days of the pandemic when the Coalition for the Homeless had to provide emergency bathroom facilities due to city inaction.
Alison Wilkey
1:58:39
MY NAME IS ALISON WILLKY AND I'M TESTIFYING ON BEHALITION FOR THE HOMELESS AND THE LEGALADE SOCIETY AND ALSO AS PART OF THE FREE TO P CAMPAIGN.
1:58:48
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY ON THIS Really IMPORTANT issue.
1:58:51
I wanna just make a few quick points here.
1:58:54
You know, the collision for the homeless in particular works with a lot of un sheltered people, and the need for public bathrooms is something that we have consistently heard for years.
1:59:03
We did a report called a from the streets in 2021 where we surveyed 200 on sheltered New Yorkers.
1:59:10
And the lack of public bathrooms was a challenge that was identified by so many people and just the lengths that people go to to try and find bathrooms throughout their day as they're trying to meet their other survival needs is really incredible and challenging for folks.
1:59:26
No one wants to have to do their business in public, and none of us want people to have to do their business in public.
1:59:33
But the fact is is that that does happen, and the city's response right now is completely wrong headed.
1:59:39
From the mayor's management report that was just released on Monday, it showed that summonses from NYPD for public urination went up 46% from the last fiscal year, and those numbers have always been already been on the rise over the past couple of years.
1:59:55
So it's an outrageous response that we're criminalizing people for a basic human need when we don't have the infrastructure that we need.
2:00:03
And I don't want to bring us back to the trauma of the early days of the pandemic, but the fact is that there are some lessons that we should have learned from that.
2:00:11
When many of the places, the un sheltered people use bathrooms, like public library, or businesses shut down, people did not have a place to go.
2:00:21
And our mobile food pantry was still out there giving people food.
2:00:24
And every night, we had people begging us for bathrooms and a place to wash their hands as just a matter of basic hygiene.
2:00:32
And we pleaded with the city to provide bathrooms at that time, and those calls were not answered.
2:00:39
And so from our own funds, the coalition for the homeless, paid for some trailers and for attendance to disinfect bathrooms after every use as an emergency measure.
2:00:50
And that was a short term measure that we did, but it does show that if we take this seriously, we can mobilize and make sure that people have access to public bathrooms.
2:00:59
So we really urge the council to pass intro694, 267, alongside intro272 as a package to really just address the shameful lack of public bathrooms, and we look forward to working with the council more on this.
