By Bryan Schwartzman
“A civilized society needs predictable restroom stops,” Spigner said in an interview last week.
He cited subway systems such as in London that have restrooms at many stops and said New York has to shape up.
Spigner said he was incensed when he saw the condition of the men's room at the Archer Avenue/ Parsons Boulevard terminal for the J, Z, and E lines.
“It's the pits,” said Spigner of the restroom, which is locked most of the time. “It's an abomination.”
He described the stench in the room as overpowering.
Spigner drafted a letter to New York City Transit President Lawrence Reuter asking him to have the restroom at the busy Jamaica station cleaned up.
“On those occasions when it is open, the filth and obvious neglect are an outrageous insult to those who are forced by the call of nature to use this facility,” wrote Spigner.
A spokeswoman said Tuesday Reuter did not yet have a response to Spigner's letter.
“We get a lot of letters. We don't answer them all in one day,” the spokeswoman said.
Spigner said the lack of dependable public restrooms in the subways creates an inconvenience for some and a possible health risk to others, particularly the elderly or ill.
He said passengers taking the E train from Jamaica Center to the World Trade Center should be able to have the assurance that they could make a rest stop at major stations like Roosevelt Avenue or Queens Plaza.
“I am not unmindful of the problems of vandalism and destructive behavior, as regards the few public restrooms available in our subway system,” he said, stressing that the city would have to hire full-time attendants to maintain the restrooms and to contact transit police in case of an emergency.
When asked to provide a list of subway stations in Queens that have restrooms, Reuter's office said they would have to look into it.
