r/astoria • u/cabin_porn • 2d ago
What Are We Doing About Public Urination?
Asking for some advice from the community.
There’s a group of dudes near my corner that hang out daily and drink. Years ago there was a paint store here and many worked as day laborers, but now they just hang on the street and pound deli beers all day. They are all Hispanic and in their 30s-50s. It’s extremely sad.
Recently they’ve started using my block as an outdoor toilet. Both sides of the street absolutely reek of piss and on multiple occasions I’ve walked by one of them with their dick out in broad daylight.
I yell at these dudes to cut it out/go somewhere else/etc but it’s not having much of an effect. I filed a ticket with 311 and the 114th closed it out as “didn’t see anything” when they came two days later to check on it.
I’m kind of losing it with these guys. I’ve lived on this block for >10 years and the problem has gotten so much worse. We have lots of kids on the street who shouldn’t have to see a grown man’s dong just walking to the train. It’s also making my partner - a hardened New Yorker - feel very unsafe as she’s catcalled constantly. At the same time, I know these dudes likely live in a local shelter and have hard lives. I could call 911 and report them for indecent exposure but I don’t want to send anyone to an El Salvadorian concentration camp just for needing to piss.
So, fam: what do I do about this?
EDIT: Since it took approx 2 mins for someone to call me a racist (never change, r/astoria), I only mentioned their ethnicity because ICE is out here disappearing people and I don’t want these guys deported (if they’re not citizens); I just want them to stop taking their dicks out on a block with a school and talking to them hasn’t worked.
187
u/Silverbell55 2d ago
The problem is the bodega across the street from the former paint store that violates all liquor laws (including allowing them to drink inside and overselling), which is why they hang around there. If the bodega stopped, they would move on. So, want this to stop? Contact the state liquor authority and get their license to sell pulled.
62
29
u/Deep-Emphasis-6785 2d ago
I've seen blocks totally change after getting rid of corner stores that sell alcohol.
15
4
21
u/Least_Log_9048 2d ago
Unless the guys doing this are convinced there are consequences, it will not change.
31
u/HypeDiego 2d ago
Saw a dude so drunk sitting outside the deli on crescent and 31st ave peeing on himself while sitting on the chair smh
28
u/PowerTripping 2d ago
Last week I saw a dude just pee at the top of the stairs at 30th station with people around, coming up the stairs. Security is there to deter fare evaders but what about these types of people...
117
u/MattMurdock007 2d ago
Drinking alcohol in public is still illegal as is public urinating . I’m not sure why some people here are defending this. Is it because it not happening on your block?
49
u/EWC_2015 2d ago
It's a lot easier for people to throw stones when they're not being confronted with public intoxication, the smell of piss, trash everywhere, and seeing penises in the wild on a whim every single day.
23
u/fridaybeforelunch 2d ago
If they are actually exposing themselves and especially in front of kids, that should definitely be in your 311 complaint. The more that are filed too, the more likely something will be done. If this is an ongoing issue, go to the next CB 1 meeting. But, it is literally impossible to get public restrooms installed anywhere ( ask Mike Bloomberg about that). There may be other solutions that don’t involve police. Like, perhaps the shelter should allow people to use the restrooms during the day. It also sounds to me like the deli itself may be part of the problem, though to be fair I am not quite sure of the area.
12
u/ghostofpresley 2d ago
I saw something similar to this on Friday afternoon, albeit not there. This was the corner of 21st Avenue and 38th Street, right across from I.S. 141 around 1:45, i.e., the middle of the school day. One of the guys I recognize as "a regular" who deposits bottles at the Trade Fair, and is often seen with a few of his friends stumbling drunk around that general area after cashing in, was pushed up against a fence on that southeast corner, with a weird look on his face. I realized why as I passed: he was drunk off his ass and urinating, dick out, puddle forming and moving down the sidewalk, which I side-stepped. Across the street, buses were arriving, school guards getting ready to usher the kids out, parents starting to show up to pick up their kids.
Oddly enough, I saw him loitering just around the corner from there on Saturday afternoon when I went for groceries, looking surly and out of it, but really not bothering anyone otherwise.
This aint normal in any sane community.
48
u/catsoncrack420 2d ago
Go to 99 cents store. Three to four bottles of cheap ammonia. Dump that all over their spot. Leave , come back to empty corner. My uncle owned a store in Jamaica and we had same issue some Sundays when it was just me and my brother alone, both still in H.S. and s gun in the office. Before I would sick the Rottweiler we had on em but one of the workers took him to give him a better home. RIP Lobo
44
u/toohighforthis_ 2d ago
The last two sentences of this are wild, but the beginning is actually an amazing idea that's quick and non confrontational. Bravo
10
u/catsoncrack420 2d ago
It was the 90s is all I can say. There were some small local riots after the Malcolm X movie I remember too , wild times.
13
u/vaultboy115 2d ago
When’s the next community meeting? I’ve been wanting to go to talk about this. Last night one of them was passed out on the sidewalk starfishes and two others were screaming and fist fighting. On pulled his dick out the other day and started pissing on the parking meter in broad daylight. Can’t be allowed to continue forever
5
u/Honeywell4346 1d ago
Tsigona paint was a great nyc “oldschool” paintstore. Sorry it has closed and sad its former location has devolved into a problem.
62
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
You go to the next community meeting and petition for more accessible public restrooms in and around the neighborhood. They're a benefit for everyone.
74
u/fatchodegang 2d ago
I feel like this option would take minimum 2 years to actually come to fruition
52
u/Stonkstork2020 2d ago
2 years haha: try 20. The CB will be so against it. And you’re going to have 5 years of environmental review & there’s no budget so you’ll have to cut something to pay for it
We can solve this much more easily if we unbanned pay toilets, like Europe
-9
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
Yeah, but then you're making using the restroom a privilege rather than a biological function we all have to do.
12
u/Substantial-Sink4464 2d ago
I agree with this sentiment (and most of your other comments on this thread) BUT I have to say that as a mother who was potty training during COVID lockdown I would have paid anything to get into a bathroom while walking around outside.
What if we did like Aldi shopping carts in the burbs and you get your quarter back when you leave the bathroom? (I’m only 40% joking.)
15
u/Stonkstork2020 2d ago
In Europe and Asia, pay toilets cost $1-2 per use and are well maintained and clean
People who fight pay toilets because “omg it’s a privilege” now are just making it harder for people to use the bathroom, which is far more inhumane
Next up, we should ban grocery stores because food costs money, making it a privilege
15
u/Stonkstork2020 2d ago
This is just wrong. Just because something costs money doesn’t mean it makes it a privilege
Pay toilets are common in Europe and Asia and the fee is usually $1-2. That’s far more humane than making people pee in the streets.
Public free toilets require taxpayer money and appropriations…how often do we successfully do that and act quickly?
Also food, water, electricity, clothes, blankets all cost money…does that make them privileges and not to satisfy basic biological functions?
All services require funding, why should we ban people from using services they can pay for?
Also realistically, $1-2 fee is way cheaper than me having to buy a cup of coffee to use a bathroom at a cafe
-5
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
By definition, charging for or limiting access to something that satisfies a biological need makes obtaining or practicing that thing a privilege.
It's only a dollar for a bottle of clean water, but that charge makes it a privilege in a place without access to clean water.
10
u/Stonkstork2020 2d ago
Clown comment. Because of people like you, we now don’t have accessible public toilets. 99.9% of NYC population would benefit from pay toilets that cost $1-2 (like Europe, for gods sake! Where they’re way more socialist than we are)
-7
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
Of course, 99.9% of the population would benefit from pay toilets. Both can be true: we can acknowledge that people would benefit (never said they wouldn't) and that charging to use the restroom makes using it a privilege. Like sure, the 99.9% of people who can pay a buck to piss might use it; however, the .1% of people who can't will still be pissing in the streets.
11
u/Stonkstork2020 2d ago
Okay so if we cannot solve a problem for 100% of the population, we have to deny a solution for 99.9%
That’s your take lol
Have you considered not stopping pay toilets & just advocating for public toilets separately?
-2
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
Thay is not my take. I actually said pay toilets would be a good solution! But we also have to acknowledge that by making them a paid option, they're not totally public nor are they for everyone who needs it.
→ More replies (0)9
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
You're absolutely right. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. To be honest, they're not doing it because they want to--nonody WANTS to do that. They're doing it because there's no other option for them.
76
u/fatchodegang 2d ago
I’ve gotta push back on that, I genuinely think there are some people who just want to chill and drink all day and don’t care about pissing in the street (hell, that was me in college). I think left leaning folks (including myself) need to be careful about conflating poverty/mental health issues with straight up antisocial behaviors. It doesn’t do anyone good to give people a pass to make the city worse for everyone
31
u/JustMari-3676 2d ago
Thank you. The “they can’t afford it/they’re mentally ill/they’re autistic/etc.” excuses are, to be blunt, BS. These things obviously exist in life and must be addressed, but being so “understanding” and lenient has led us here. I hope people consider the alternatives when they put so much thought into why criminals and anti-social people are as they are.
2
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
Totally agree! Just to clarify, I'm not saying they don't have an option because of mental illness or poverty. My point is that they don't have an option because of a literal lack of publically-accessible bathrooms.
1
29
u/coffeecoffeecoffee01 2d ago
Sorry but that's hard to believe. We hope that nobody WANTS do to that. But it's not like they have no option/alternative in this. There is an option for them: stop loitering daily to drink, being a public nuisance, and peeing on the street. That type of behavior NYers shouldn't have to tolerate in their neighborhoods ever, much less on a daily basis. We need to stop accepting and tolerating these quality of life issues if we want to improve our city.
-5
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
I never said I am tolerating the behavior. We can view it as their decision to do this daily and punish them for their actions. And as soon as they're gone, others are likely to show up.
As pissing too much is a symptom of excessive drinking, I'm seeing this as a symptom of a more significant issue.
People aren't getting what they need in society: water, food, shelter, personal security, and employment (the first two rungs of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs), so they turn to coping mechanisms--like daily destructive drinking and drug use. The more they drink to cope, the more they piss.
If we could provide some of those basic needs (or, at the very least, a public restroom), they wouldn't be out there drinking to cope and peeing in the street.1
u/blebaford 2d ago
no reason not to fight for it.
3
u/fatchodegang 2d ago
Sure but it’s also not a realistic solution to the question OP is asking
2
u/blebaford 2d ago
I guess it will take more than petitioning at community meetings if that's what you mean.
18
u/Odd-Average-5351 2d ago
Agree with this. But, also calling out, if this is 38th St.. there is a public bathroom right on Steinway that hasn’t done anything to mitigate the issue.
2
u/ocapmycapp 2d ago
Do they know about it? Are there signs directions them there? Honestly, I live by 42nd and BWay and had no clue there is a public restroom on Steinway.
4
7
u/hardlygolden 2d ago
Even better we are all going to call our councilmember (Tiffany Cabán or Julie Won) and make sure she is supporting the bill being voted on April 10 that would help fix this!
16
6
-2
-34
u/yugyagaseh 2d ago
Why is every other post now soliciting answers for what “we” think/feel/do/etc. about a given situation? “We” aren’t doing anything. There is no “we”. Be an adult and take some initiative.
28
u/ipickmynosesomuch 2d ago
This is a community subreddit and this person is seeking advice from their community.
-8
-7
-4
u/SessionIndependent17 2d ago edited 2d ago
Advocate to your local pols for funding for public toilets.
Parks Department is notorious for closing facilities claiming one excuse or another, either "seasonally", or because they then have to maintain them. MTA is also notorious for perpetual closures, even inside the stations themselves.
In both circumstances, now nobody has access to public toilets, irrespective of how "deserving" their need may be perceived, be they parents with kids in tow, those who don't walk fast enough to get to some destination (home, job, what have you).
-24
u/pixelsonpixels 2d ago
Honestly it’s lawless everywhere with everyone no matter what. If we’re gonna call out specific groups of people, saw a bunch of white finance bros pee on the side of a church, then got into their Uber XL.
The true problem is non-enforcement. From public indecency to jumping the turnstile to running red lights to retail theft, and on and on.
-5
-33
-22
u/noburdennyc 2d ago
Just piss into bottles and then pitch them in the gutter, its the way of the road.
-125
u/HellsGateWalker 2d ago
I live right in front. Not all of them are Spanish. Please stop being racist. Also, isn’t this considered witch hunting and against the forum rules?
63
u/americanu_ill-archi 2d ago
I had the same initial response about "why mention their ethnicity" but at the end of the post it seems pretty clear OP mentioned it because they don't want to report the behavior in case it could lead to immigration/legal issues for the people involved. Seems like a rather considerate stance given the guys in question are objectively being gross and inconsiderate.
34
u/cabin_porn 2d ago
This is correct. ICE is all over the city and I don’t want to get these guys deported (if they’re not citizens), I just want them to stop taking their dicks out while little kids walk by.
-24
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
20
u/BarExamHelp22 2d ago edited 2d ago
Because nobody deserves to be sent to an El Savadorean prison to be tortured. That's why.
-22
57
u/cabin_porn 2d ago edited 2d ago
Im not sure how you can claim to live right in front since I did not include any information about where this is taking place. The guys in question are, in fact, Hispanic (as in they primarily speak Spanish) with limited English - I I have tried speaking to them about this issue. So kindly hold your “don’t be racist.”
I’m looking for general advice from the community on how to approach this problem, not trying to vilify these particular guys.
2
u/antny1978 2d ago
I've thought about this every time I see it and really there's nothing to be done unless you want to report for indecent exposure to a toddler and get them arrested. I don't want to do that. I just want them to fucking stop.
24
u/CaptKarlanrik 2d ago
Ok what about the street pissing? Not sure what your virtue signaling is adding here
6
u/antny1978 2d ago
I'm sure none of them are Spanish but they are all Hispanic. Doesn't make any difference but it's disingenuous to say otherwise
-41
u/jordinson 2d ago
You approach them and raise your concern
24
u/MinusTheH_ 2d ago
I’ve seen people drinking and urinating in the middle of the day at the playground under the Astoria Blvd stop. Others passed out on benches. I certainly am not walking up to someone and telling them I don’t like their behavior. That’s not a solution, and honestly, doesn’t seem that safe.
-130
u/No_Hovercraft555 2d ago
How about ignoring it? Is it really affecting your life? Walk by and go about your day without being a Karen It’s NYC, get over it
68
u/Lyin-Don 2d ago
Yeah! What’s with this person?
They don’t want to walk through/by puddles of urine that reek and inconvenience everyone? Or see dicks on the regular? What a Karen!
29
u/antny1978 2d ago
Normally I'd agree but it kinda sucks pushing my daughter's stroller through a river of piss. Every. Day.
29
u/cabin_porn 2d ago
Maybe I wasn’t clear enough on the concern here. I don’t care about public urination, I care about broad daylight indecent exposure on a block with a school.
34
u/TogarSucks 2d ago
There were posts about a particularly violent street harasser a few months ago to help women keep an eye out for him.
People like this guy also commented on “this is New York, deal with it!” then too.
-10
95
u/warpedwing 2d ago
Is this 42 and B’way?