By Helen Klein
With the city planning to install 20 new automated street toilets around the five boroughs by 2008, Community Board 10 has recommended two sites within its boundaries – the 69th Street Pier and the “dust bowl” at Leif Ericson Park. The rationale behind the two is simple – both are located in areas where there is a dearth of toilet facilities to accommodate large numbers of people participating in recreational activities – in the case of the dust bowl, team sports; in the case of the pier, bicyclists, runners, walkers and anglers. The board was contacted by the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT), asking for recommendations. The agency’s coordinated street furniture franchise unit is requesting two recommendations from each of the city’s 59 community boards, explained Louise Riso, chairperson of the board’s Traffic and Transportation Committee. What will eventually be installed at 20 locations, she told members gathered in the community room at Shore Hill, 9000 Shore Road, will be “state-of-the-art facilities that will be serviced twice per day for inspection and system maintenance. “When the list of potential sites has been pared down,” Riso went on, “they will forward the list to all of the community boards for our feedback.” The suitability of the pier and the dustbowl had previously been agreed upon by committee members, Riso said. “As we all know,” she told her listeners, “the pier receives many visitors and cyclists who travel along the bicycle path. It is also home to Brooklyn’s September 11th memorial and has ceremonies each year.” As for the dust bowl, at 67th Street and Eighth Avenue, Riso said, “It is home to many sports teams and presently has no facilities.” “Hundreds and hundreds of kids,” visit the fields, added Josephine Beckmann, the board’s district manager. While the board has made its recommendations, that doesn’t mean the city will actually choose either of the sites. “We’re recommending two sites,” Beckmann reminded the board, “ but there’s no guarantee we’re going to get any.”
