The on-duty death last weekend of the third taxi driver in as many months highlights the physical and financial perils cabbies face behind the wheel, the head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance said Tuesday.

Happy Thursday in New York City, where public bathrooms are never there when you need them. It’s a universal law to rival any of Newton’s.

We wrote that in a newsletter from Aug. 20, 2024. More than 2 years, a mayoral turnover and dozens of public restroom-related news alerts later, the sentiment remains true, and public officials are once again promising to address it.

Earlier this summer, the Mamdani administration signed a $4 million deal with the company Throne Labs to build a suite of high-tech, solar-powered modular public bathrooms in key locations across the city. Yesterday, Mamdani held a press conference debuting the first two operational Throne toilets, located on Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and 64th Street in Woodside, Queens. The city plans to install 15 more toilets over the coming months.

Forget your classic port-a-potties, these are the public restrooms of the future. Users can only access the toilets by text, app, key card or by scanning a QR code on the side of the module. The inside features botanical wallpaper, climate control, a flushing toilet and running water, a baby-changing station, free pad dispenser and fully-touchless controls. There is a strict 10 minute timer, with audio warnings at the five- and eight-minute marks and flashing lights. At 10 minutes, the doors will automatically open. Each toilet is also ADA accessible.

Throne workers perform maintenance and cleaning on each module every 10-15 uses. If someone refuses to leave the bathroom after 10 minutes, workers are automatically alerted and dispatched. For all that functionality, each module is running the city $235,000, which is actually far less than other recent public restroom builds because the Throne toilets are not linked directly to the plumbing network. 

“Too many New Yorkers know what it’s like to have nowhere to go while they’re on the go,” Mamdani told reporters yesterday. “This pilot is about making sure New Yorkers can count on a clean, safe, accessible bathroom when they need one.”

Will it be enough to beat out the Bryant Park bathroom — the crown jewel of the public bathroom world? The throne is theirs to lose.

For two weeks in September, everyone wants to be Italian, at least judging by the crowds at the annual Feast of San Gennaro in New York City’s Little Italy.

Founded in 1926, the largest and longest-running Italian festival in the United States celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, with locals and tourists alike descending upon Mulberry Street in Manhattan to celebrate Italian American culture.

To be sure, there’s plenty that’s commercialized: Frank Sinatra impersonators croon “New York, New York,” while vendors hawk shirts with quotes from “The Godfather” and “The Sopranos” at astronomical prices. Classic Italian American fare like chicken parm subs and sausage and peppers fly off food carts.

Read on to learn more.

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