Little relief for desperate citizens being driven round the bend : The Australian view of the state of things in New York revolves around the impossibility of finding a clean public toilet. “Restaurateurs complain that people order up big, use the lavatory and then do a runner before the appetisers arrive…. Desperate people have gone so far as to buy and actually drink New York coffee, which has a taste and consistency akin to warm sump oil, simply in order to use a cafe’s restroom.” New York budgeted $5 million last year to put in 100 public toilets. Not to gloat, but in contrast I just heard a news report that my hometown Boston has set aside $2 million for just eight — count ’em, eight — new public restrooms downtown; that breaks down to five times the cost per head (pun intended). Apparently, these are so expensive because they’re going to be totally self-cleaning, somehow or other. Sydney Morning Herald