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Boston Really Sucks for Public Restrooms
Oh sure they are there ... are there signs? Are they open and safe 24 hours a day? Are they open all year? Do they have the barest supplies and are they kept clean?
These things matter. I had an easier time finding public restrooms in Mexico City than I have in Boston. Those robotoilets do help - when they work - but the city generally sucks sewage when it comes to
Classic example: At long wharf, the restrooms weren't open until mid-May and had a sign about going to the adjacent hotel. The hotel had big signs saying "no public restrooms" and no signs that even pointed to restrooms on the public floors.
Copley Square
Even without consulting this, I know there are restrooms at Back Bay Station and the BPL. Like everything else in Boston, no, they are not open all night, but the guy was arrested at 5:30 p.m. I don't know about the BPL restrooms, but the one at the train station is serviceable for this guy's needs, if somewhat gross because it fills up with diesel smoke whenever a train comes in (also, if he really does have diabetes so bad that he has to go on the grass, he needs to see a doctor right away, because his condition is uncontrolled and that's a recipe for early death).
Gotta Go? Just use the Web!!
All well and good to have a web directory - everybody absolutely MUST carry around web devices if they dare ever have to pee at anytime when they are out in, like, a major tourist area of a major city? But when you are towing the elders around without an expensive data plan, signs and tourist oriented directionals ... like those found in cities that acknowledge human needs ... are far more useful.
Not everybody can afford a restaurant meal every time they have to pee, either. Ever been pregnant? Didn't think so.
This guy was obviously out to lunch, no question. HOWEVER, I think it is a bit ridiculous for the cops to make noises about "public restrooms nearby" when Boston is notorious for not signing or marking anything, and for having grossly inadequate public facilities. Cops knowing that there are restrooms around isn't the same as being able to find one when you are unfamiliar with the area and there are no signs directing you (not to mention waiting twenty minutes in line to use it when you do).
Um
I will grant you that public restrooms are hard to find in Boston in general (it's not like I decided to compile that guide just for the hell of it), and that the sort of person likely to use Copley Square as a urinal is not going to be consulting his iPhone.
But Copley Square? With the BPL right there? The BPL that has men's rooms well known as places to go for people who are perhaps not all there? No, I'm not buying it.
Also, I have never had to wait 20 minutes to use a men's room anywhere, not even at Fenway Park during a game.
Put on a dress
Better yet, wander around with an Empathy Belly and drink the recommended amount of fluids for a preggo. Then try Quincy Market at lunchtime, or just about any place you don't have to buy a meal, and enjoy the cross-legged wait.
Unless you happen to know that the visitor's center for the national parks has restrooms. Those are tough enough to find that they are usually available.
Must be nice to use the restroom without removing half your clothing and then putting it back on ... and waiting for the twenty people in front of you to do the same.
Never waited 20 minutes?
Never waited 20 minutes? That's because you're not a woman. Women need to spend quality time in public rest rooms before and after letting loose, thus slowing down the process.
You got me!
Yes, it's true: I've never been pregnant; no sense in me trying to deny it.
However, the issue at hand here (so to speak) is a man who is also unlikely to have ever faced such issues. I am really doubting he would have had to wait 20 minutes to use a urinal at the BPL.
For that matter, and to Swirlygrrl's point, I know from first-hand experience that he would NOT have had to wait 20 minutes had he been at Quincy Market (in the sense that in all my years here and all my time there, I have never had to wait more than a couple minutes).
Is it fair to women? Maybe not. But I'm sorry - nothing that happens to women is an excuse for what this guy allegedly did.
The arguing for the sake of
The arguing for the sake of arguing is amazing.
Preggers with the need to relieve yourself while in Copley Square? Take note.
Copley Plaza Hotel
Westin Hotel
BPL
FedEx Kinkos
Back Bay Station
Borders
Marriott Hotel
Copley Mall
Finagle A Bagel
And some of those restrooms are way more than lovely.
All of these fine establishments have seen me in my "with child" condition and otherwise.
You do not need public signs to find yourself a public restroom.
FedEx Kinko's?
I would never have thought to visit a copy and print store to find a restroom. Do all Kinko's locations have them?
The one in Harvard Square does
That's my restroom of choice when I am in the area and not going to a restaurant. You need token but they have them at the desk.
I think Copley is one of the easier places to find restrooms. I usually go to Finagle a Bagel when in need.
Know where to go
It's just a matter of being informed: http://www.boston-online.com/restrooms/index.html
Of course, any good restaurant should offer decent accommodations.
Robo-toilet nearby
There is a nearby "robo-toilet" right outside the Boston Public Library. There are four Starbucks within 1/2 mile (almost in sight!) of Copley Square and a Borders bookstore / Seattle's Best Coffee, as well. All of these places are accessible to someone looking to urinate. I have never encountered a situation where a visitor to any of these Starbucks was turned away from a bathroom and the same is true for the Borders cafe.
There are also bathrooms in the public areas of the Westin and Marriott hotel, and in the Shaw's supermarket. And, in the Prudential and Copley malls. And, inside the Trinity Church, I would imagine.
All of those are "inside" which I'm guessing is why this person chose to use a tree ... apparently, he couldn't be bothered.
I think more bizarre is the fact that someone is commenting that the needs of one outweigh the needs of the many, that peeing in public is apparently excusable because otherwise he'd be inconvenienced.
Bizarre.
actually
Copley Square is one of the more restroom friendly areas of Boston. Even 6 year olds know that you don't pull down your pants in public to piss on a tree.
Boston is full of hotels and
Boston is full of hotels and colleges, both great for bathrooms.
And copley has one of the few public restrooms in the city, although I dont understand why its closed at night (its self cleaning)
Good Advice in 1999
Most universities clamped down on randoms entering buildings after 9/11. Most hotels have signs declaring their restrooms are NOT open to the public these days ... and many will actively stop you from accessing them by placing entrances within meeting areas and stopping people who wander in.
In the Boston area, Ive
In the Boston area, Ive never had a problem entering any university public space. Dorms and some libraries are off limits, but classroom buildings, social areas etc are always open to everyone. Theres way too much student, parent, teacher, staff, maintenance staff etc movement for anybody to notice one person walking in to pee.
And whenever im in a different city and need a bathroom, I go to a hotel. A hotel will NEVER stop you because you could be a guest.
When youre staying at a hotel, and walking around checking it out, do you think for a second that someone will stop you? Of course not, youre a guest. Except the staff has no way of knowing this. Same works for random people off the street.
I'm going to have to call BS on that one.
This is definitely one of those times you are just making shit up. Hell, I've walked into a Campus and Waltham Police locked down building at Brandeis.
I can assure you I can walk into any number of campus buildings unhindered at many schools in the area.
While I haven't been in every hotel, I can assure you that I could go to the bathroom at just about any hotel or restaurant in the Copley area by just being polite and asking or just waltzing in.
Getting in is easy
- Act like you belong there.
- Go in quietly.
- Leave promptly.
People are unlikely to care unless you do something to draw attention to yourself.
Colleges and universities
MIT, Harvard, BU, and Northeastern are generally wide-open, especially during the daytime. Others may be different -- my impression is that Emerson is fairly locked-down because of the many homeless people in the neighborhood.
Calling BS Right Back
Brandeis isn't downtown Boston or even remotely a tourist area.
I used to work at Harvard. We had to carry ID and check with guards for any entry starting in November, 2001. If I forgot my ID my boss had to come over and "claim" me.
Maybe some buildings in Harvard Yard may still be open, but the big ones likely to have restrooms that you can reach - like the library - are secured.
I had to wave an event flyer the last time I needed to get into a BU building and sign in. To get into a secured Harvard building, you need to be on a guest list for an event or they have to call your contact person.
MIT is still open, which is good when dodging thunderstorms, and I don't know about Northeastern since they had an incident.
I've worked and attended conferences at the hotels, and we regularly post visitors at Long Wharf. The restrooms in most are now closed, gated off with ropes from events and signs denying entry, with security people hanging out.
So much for yesterday's news!
In any case, it shouldn't be the business of hotels and universities to provide restroom facilities. There should be more appropriate accomodations (and the robotoilets are a great improvement, but only a start!) I guess real Bostonians and their visitors shouldn't ever have to pee? No wonder so many visitors think the place is hostile. It is a real problem when you bring older visitors around, I'll tell you that much.
Long Wharf
Really? I've never had problems getting into the restrooms, either the one just outside the restaurant or the one closer to the gift shop. Maybe I should try when they're having a conference there.
Oh, and as long as we're strolling out that way, South Station has very accessible restrooms. So does the convention center, for that matter. And I seem to recall there's a restroom at the Children's Museum accessible via the Au Bon Pain.
But again, I'm not disagreeing with you on the need for more public restrooms.
Yep, Long Wharf Marriot
Big signs, and they have somebody stationed there by the restaurant to redirect people. Maybe they care less when there isn't a conference? I was wearing business drag and actually waiting for people who we had staying there so that I could escort them to the restaurant for the evening meal and I was turned back - but this is a fairly new thing.
That said, there is a perfectly functional and heated public restroom next to the gift shop in the little yellow building ... and it is closed much of the year. I can see why the hotel gets tired of being expected to fill in.
See your BS and raise
This is nonsense. Perhaps the building you worked in had unusual entry requirements, but I have taken classes at Harvard Extension (yes, post-2001) and never had any problem walking into whatever building I wanted to. And, yeah, they had bathrooms.
Such fabulation doesn't help your argument. Nor does bringing up Brandeis, when the problem was some young idiot pissing in public in Copley Square, where, as has been noted, there are plenty of public restrooms available even to the minimally resourceful. Fuhcrissakes, there's a mall there. Can your "older visitors" really not hold it long enough to cross the street? Or do they all just prefer whining incessantly to using their brains a bit?
When did you work there?
I think you may be fabulating things, then. I know that from late 2001 to 2004 I needed to present ID for the Med School, School of Public Health, Science Center, and Libraries AS AN EMPLOYEE.
Again - I know where there are restrooms because I have been here a while. But it is such classic isolationist Boston bull that all is okay because people from around here know where things are hidden and everyone else should just go to hell - after leaving some tourist money, of course.
Never
I never worked at Harvard. I attended classes there in the evening. And I never had to present ID to get in the buildings, and never had any problem finding a bathroom.
The Library has required ID since the 80's at least. (You can't have just anyone come in there and read books!) I can't vouch for the lab buildings you talk about - it seems logical to me that they'd lock up the expensive stuff. But as for just walking into most buildings at Harvard, as I and many others here have pointed out to you, it really isn't a problem.
Nor have I or anyone I know ever had a problem finding a bathroom in Copley Square. Which is what started this (a relatively young man pissing on a tree in Copley), before your knee jerked and you started going off about women and old people and how unfair it all is and how bad Boston is for not assuring that ever visitor knows where all the potties are.
Harvard Science Center
You need an ID to go upstairs in the evening or on weekends, but not to go to the basement where the restrooms are.
Harvard restrooms, and others
I've gone into the Science Center any number of times without trouble. The restrooms are in the basement, next to the computer labs. The building is open 24 hours.
Other Harvard buildings I've gone into for this purpose: Boylston Hall, Sever Hall, Holyoke Center, Memorial Hall (Sanders Theatre building - they're in the basement).
The libraries are a special case -- you need a Harvard ID to get into almost all of them. (Although last time I checked, the Divinity School library was open to the public.)
At BU or Northeastern, I'd go to the student center. The buildings are open almost all the time. Northeastern has a tunnel system similar to MIT's, so that if you go into one building, you can often walk indoors to many others. For the BU and NU libraries, you may need to show a picture ID, but it doesn't have to be from any college.
Oddly
My experiences (having gone to BU and attended random conferences and meetings at nearly every college in the city now) show me that public libraries are always accessible to use their bathrooms. On college campuses, their libraries are often the least accessible places on campus. Then again, any other building on campus is usually wide open during the day and while some might be restricted at night, others are still open nearly 24/7.
I know for a fact that Harvard, BU, MIT, NE, and Brandeis all have publicly accessible buildings and so do nearly all of the medical campuses.
Of course, Copley isn't really near any of these...but then again I think people have talked about enough businesses with restrooms that don't want to turn away potential customers to cover the Copley area.
I realize that Brandeis doens't really support my argument.
Though, it seems like it'd be an interesting experiment.
I was just throwing Brandeis out there. Waltham police and Brandeis police _REALLY_ suck at securing buildings.
I work for Harvard and the
I work for Harvard and the only buildings I have to swipe into are the Libraries. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a homeless guy who uses HKS pretty regularly, although sometimes its hard to tell faculty and homeless people appart.
And what of Urban Pain?
Do they still have a restroom?
What's Urban Pain? Is that
What's Urban Pain? Is that an Urban Outfitters with an Au Bon Pain in it?
Sorry
I should never have referred to Au Bon Pain that way. After all, it introduced me to the wonders of Orangina.
Emerson restrooms
...are not open to the public by any means. They are guarded, and very difficult to get to in most cases. You have to keep in mind it's a school with sizable film and video programs. They get very protective of the buildings for that reason, and any unauthorized visitors are likely to be arrested upon discovery. I wouldn't risk it.
There's the Borders down Boylston St. and the Corner Food Court in Downtown Crossing if you really need to go.
Being always on the go and
Being always on the go and having a small female child, I have become very good at knowing where restrooms are pretty much everywhere you can go in Boston (and other than restaurants have never been denied).
There are many other great place to go, but these are the everywhere locations. Also, check out this recent article from the globe:
boston.com...when_youve_gotta_go_go_in_style/