This parkgoer was PO’d.
An Upper West Side woman says her friend was recently traumatized when he was interrupted midstream in a men’s bathroom in Central Park by a parade of outlaw females who opted not to use the “fully functional” women’s restroom.
“Today I waited for a male friend as he was using the men’s room … around 67th street by the le pain quotidien cafe. This is a city bathroom,” posted Manhattan filmmaker Marianne Hettinger to Nextdoor — complete with photo — on April 23.
“I counted at least 8 women who did not know each other, go into the mens room with the men, who did not say anything. My friend came out and was quite disturbed since women had come in as he was relieving himself. What is going on!?”
The post generated 228 comments from the pee-nut gallery.
“Be glad you’re a New Yorker. In some states, politicians would be campaigning for election on this issue. And winning,” quipped one commenter.
“I’ve been going into mens bathrooms for years, at movies, concerts & stadiums — it’s been obvious for years that women’s bathroom need to be designed different,” wrote Isabel N.
Piped in another nonplussed female: “Same. Anywhere the women’s line is a mile long and the men’s line is like, almost zero. I just say ‘Not looking’ and zip into the stall.”
A Central Park Conservancy volunteer told The Post the restroom drama occurs on busy weekends and he “often tells women to go to Tavern on the Green but the women say it’s too far.”
There are no Parks rules directly restricting individuals from using whichever restroom they choose, the agency said, adding, “Our goal is not to issue summonses if we find an individual in a restroom that doesn’t match their apparent gender.”
The issue isn’t exactly the No. 1 priority at the Parks Department.
“When ya gotta go, ya gotta go,” agency spokeswoman Crystal Howard said. “But, we do ask bathroom-goers to be respectful of others’ modesty,.”
Additional reporting by Helayne Seidman
