The first of New York City’s twenty automated self cleaning toilets opened its sliding doors to the public recently. The glass and steel toilets which are the size of a newsstand are part of a billion dollar arrangement with Spanish street furniture company Cemusa to provide the city with matching bike racks, pay toilets and bus shutters.
Vagabondish is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read our disclosure.
The sliding doors open when you make a deposit of 25 cents, and users will have a full 15 minutes of privacy before the doors automatically open. (Might not be a good idea to dart into one when you’re having a no-go day) No chances of sudden surprises here — there will an alarm and a warning light flashing ninety seconds before the doors open. The toilets also self clean during this period.
It’s a sweet deal for the city — Cemusa will actually pay New York a cool $1 billion for advertising on the structures that are part of the arrangement, and an additional $400 million for advertising on the structures the company operates outside the city.