Joseph Hof
May 3, 2025
Cites Civil Rights Concerns and New NPR Podcast Episode Supporting the Urgency of the Issue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hof Law LLC | press@hoflawllc.com
New York, NY – On May 1, 2025, Hof Law LLC formally notified the New York City Council of the ongoing and discriminatory inaccessibility of public restrooms throughout the city. The firm urged the Council to take immediate action to ensure both public and private establishments—particularly those receiving public funds—comply with civil rights obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX, and New York City and State human rights laws.
Coincidentally, on May 2, 2025, NPR released an episode of its podcast Planet Money that offers a detailed historical and social overview of this same issue. The episode, which can be heard here (external link), independently confirms the pervasiveness of the restroom access crisis in New York. At timestamp 19:58, the podcast underscores how arbitrary and inconsistent restroom access practices and procedures create daily obstacles for residents and tourists alike, and lead to illegal disparate treatment of folks including disabled folk with access and functional needs.
“The most embarrassing detail? The City of New York committed nearly 20 years ago to installing at least twenty public restrooms. Today, most of them remain uninstalled,” said Joe Hof, Managing Attorney of Hof Law. “While completing those long-overdue installations would help, the deeper problem is legal and moral: People are being denied access to restrooms in ways that clearly violate civil rights laws. It's dehumanizing, and it's unlawful.”
Hof Law LLC is calling on the City Council to:
Compel completion of the promised public restrooms;
Conduct a formal study to identify which establishments are governed by federal or local civil rights laws; and,
Issue clear directives to prevent illegal denial of access to restrooms in those facilities.
“We cannot claim to be a beacon of civil rights while people are being mocked or criminalized simply for needing to relieve themselves,” Hof added. “This is a human dignity issue—and one squarely within the purview of the law.”
For more information or to support this initiative, please contact Hof Law LLC or visit [www.hoflawllc.com].