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Public Spaces

 This is very welcome news for New Yorkers and visitors to New York who all have long struggled to find a public restroom. My solution involves staying semi-dehydrated while I am out so I would not need to use a facility until I returned to the hotel. While an unhealthy idea it probably works if you are out there only for a couple of days at any time. My troubles with restrooms in the city always reminded me of life in India when I was growing up. If we had to travel any significant distance at any time. Parents would start to tell kids that they need to use the bathroom (multiple times if need be) before they left and caution them against drinking too much liquid along the way. 

My mother used to carry a water bottle for us if we were out and about in the summer but it was very much rationed so there would be no need to visit a bathroom. New York is not alone in lack of access to public restrooms - there are way too many places in around the world that have the same problem. It will be great to see Google convert this to a global map layer so people (specially children) can be put out of their misery. I feel glad that I have learned adaptation techniques early in my life so I can cope better than those who did not have such opportunity. 

The group Alliance for Public Space Leadership, which promotes equity and effective management of New York’s public spaces, said in a statement that the new Google map “will make our public realm more accessible for everyone” but added that New York City has far too few public restrooms.

“These facilities should be easy to find and abundant so all New Yorkers can enjoy public space with peace of mind,” the group said

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