Side Note

Soon you won’t be able to pee in NYC without paying $5 and hearing a sales pitch

When I was growing up, some businesses charged you a quarter to use the restroom, which was easily circumvented by having the person ahead of you in the bathroom line hold the door open as they exited. Now, a number of businesses seem to taking a tip from that episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where George Costanza says he got rich off a smart toilet app.

Luluapp — which launches this summer — uses your location to direct you to the nearest available restroom, which you can access for anywhere between 99 cents to $5, depending on how nice the bathroom is, according to the New York Post. After you use the facilities, Luluapp CEO Paolo Cogliati told the paper, the establishment can use the app to “promote a free drink or discount” to you. So instead of buying something in exchange for the ability to use a bathroom, Luluapp is letting you… pay to use a bathroom, so they can sell you something else. Cool.

Another pay-to-pee app, Looie, which launched in 2015, asks users to shell out $25 a month in exchange for access to a “network” of clean bathrooms. Rockaloo, which launched last year, bills itself as “the most unexpected VIP ticket in town,” and reportedly lets you rent a bathroom for up to an hour. I don't know why anyone would need to spend an hour in a public restroom, but you do you.

Alternatively, you can always do what I do when I’m feeling brave, which is brazenly walk into a restroom that is “FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY,” and leave before anyone realizes you didn't buy anything.