New York City will no longer describe its park bathrooms as “comfort stations,” citing the euphemism’s association with the “comfort women” conscripted into sexual slavery during World War II.
In an internal memo, parks department officials announced that any reference to “comfort station” will be replaced with “public restroom” or “public restroom building,” effective immediately, as part of a “conscious effort to champion and support human dignity.”
The rebranding comes as the department aims to make more public restrooms available in a city infamous for lack of bathroom access.
“The term ‘comfort station’ has a negative connotation for some in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities, due to the term's use during World War II as a place where women were forced to provide sexual services,” Mark Focht, the chief operating officer for the parks department, wrote in the March 16 directive.
Agency employees should use “public restrooms” in all future signs and communications, the memo adds, before linking to further information about the history of “comfort women.”
Meghan Lalor, a parks department spokesperson, said the change was made in response to feedback from the public and staff.
Beginning in the 1930s and lasting through World War II, an estimated 200,000 “comfort women” were forced into Japanese military brothels, sometimes known as comfort stations. The system – which primarily relied on women trafficked from the Korean Peninsula, as well as other Asian countries – is believed to be among the most widespread examples of state-sponsored sexual slavery.
The term “comfort station” entered New York City’s lexicon decades earlier, amid a push to improve public accommodations during the Progressive Era. In contrast to existing public toilets, the so-called comfort stations were larger, often underground structures at popular public spaces.
Many were eventually closed – though some examples, including a Beaux Arts building in Bryant Park, remain operational. The subway restrooms, occasionally also referred to as “comfort stations,” are known officially as bathrooms, according to MTA spokesperson Tim Minton.
Over the years, meanwhile, the more than 600 public bathrooms under the parks department's purview came to be known as “comfort stations.” The descriptor, still used in some city materials, was a cause for occasional scorn. In a 2019 report, “Discomfort Stations,” then-City Comptroller Scott Stringer highlighted the sad state of New York’s relatively few public parks bathrooms.
Beginning next summer, the parks department will roll out a new type of stand-alone bathroom, a prefabricated kiosk intended to cut down on the high costs of building traditional restrooms. The product, invented in the Pacific Northwest, comes with its own branding: the Portland Loo.
