Recently, a slew of apps flooded the market offering users access to private toilets in New York City. Ok, by “slew” we mean two. Still, flush with excitement, we tried both apps to see which one would bowl us over.
In one corner: Looie, an app granting users access to private bathrooms for a $25/month fee. By signing up for Looie, you’re given a personal key that unlocks restrooms of local businesses partnered with the app. Looie officially launched August 1 and currently only has three loos on offer in the Tribeca area.
In the other corner: Airpnp, a crowd-sourced app, founded in New Orleans, that connects users to individual hosts’ private commodes. Browsing Airpnp, a total of six bathrooms appeared on the map in the lower Manhattan area, of which three were simply public restrooms.
What first cast doubt into our mind about Airpnp was their email sign-off, “Urine good hands.” We’re usually not one to judge a pun, but in this case the assurance didn’t quite, er, hold water. When we gave the app a try, none of the occupants of the listed bathrooms in the Manhattan area were “available” for our use.
In contrast stood Yezin Al-Qaysi, the founder and current head janitor of Looie, who we met up with prior to his app’s launch to test out the service. Watch the above video to see who quite obviously came out on top.
Video by Stephanie Leontiev.