Boston Globe Runs the APT Story

By Eric Richardson
Published: Sunday, May 13, 2007, at 10:43PM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Part of the fun of something like the recent Times piece on Downtown APTs is watching to see how that story spreads. Earlier in the week I noted that Newsweek grabbed my quote for its perspectives page.

Today the Boston Globe runs the story in its pages. Since it's just a straight run of the Times piece there's no mention that Boston's had similar toilets for several years now.

According to my count we're now at roughly 201 days since the Pershing Square APT got set in concrete.

Update (Monday): Today the story runs in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Also, a great quote from an article on the lack of public toilets for patrons of Chicago's rail system:

"To be able to relieve one's bladder is one of the most basic and perpetual functions from the beginning of our lives to the end, and it should neither be treated as a luxury or as a favor," said [commuter Gina] Gibson, who works in the admissions department at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

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Comments

Joel C writes:

That quote is so perfect, it bears repeating:

"To be able to relieve one's bladder is one of the most basic and perpetual functions from the beginning of our lives to the end, and it should neither be treated as a luxury or as a favor."

The utility of public toilets is so basic, I can't see why anybody would object to them. For visitors to Downtown, it can be a great relief. For the homeless, it's really the only alternative available to peeing and pooping on the street.

# on May.14.2007 AT 09:19 AM

MIMER9600 writes:

As I was walking over to pershing square this morning to catch my bus, I noticed that there were two men working on the APT. It looked like they were testing it for use. The roof was lifted up like the hood of a car, a back door was open, and the sliding door was also opening and closing. These men were not city employees, so I am guessing these are they guys that keep the thing running. Maybe they were doing a final inspection before annoucing it fully functional?

Also my mother told me last week that she saw a story on the local television news about the APTs. In the story they mentioned that disputes between city agencies were slowing down progress on the APT's opening.

# on May.14.2007 AT 10:05 AM

Eric Richardson writes:

That's good news. There's a week or so of testing that an APT gets put through before it gets put into service. I would hope this means that clock is ticking. Certainly door action means the electrical is up and running.

# on May.14.2007 AT 10:13 AM

kenarch writes:

I'm feeling a little cynical this morning. Must be a Monday thing.

City Dep't Project Manager: "Hey - what's taking so damn long to get that APT open and the rest of them up and running???"

Boss: "Well, we don't want to give all the world's homeless people the idea that LA is open for them to just show up now that we have clean toilets!"

PM: "I don't think that will happen, but how can we make sure?"

Boss: "Let's put the APT out there for a year or so and see what happens when word gets around. We don't actually need to open it to the public, but hey - people talk. You'll see. Within six or eight months there'll be thousands more homeless people downtown, called here by the siren song of working public restrooms. We can't really have that, can we?"

So... the saga continues, and if those homeless counts rise too fast we'll never see that thing operational...

# on May.14.2007 AT 11:50 AM

zh2oson writes:

Workers were messing around with the toilet this morning as I drove to work. Here is a picture of the APT with it's top up:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34295399@N00/?saved=1

# on May.14.2007 AT 02:21 PM

Dr.Boris writes:

While on vacation in the South Mexico I read the article in the Cancun Edition of the Miami Hearald, the APT stink has drifted south.

# on May.18.2007 AT 11:15 PM