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New York Daily News
Paris hatched a pee-brained solution to its public urination problem.
The City of Light has installed eco-friendly urinals that offer no privacy on streets and near major landmarks. Called Uritrottoirs, they’re shaped like outdoor garbage bins with an open space for dudes to stand in front of. Oui, oui!
No word yet on a remedy for women who can’t wait for an indoor restroom — but the Uritrottoirs are already causing an uproar among furious French citizens.
At least one of the exposed urinals is planted near Notre-Dame cathedral on Saint-Louis island, overlooking the Seine river where boatloads of sightseers pass.
“There’s no need to put something so immodest and ugly in such an historic spot,” Paola Pellizzari, a 68-year-old art store owner told Reuters.
A 50-year-old local art gallery owner told the news agency, “It’s horrible. We’re told we have to accept this but this is absolutely unacceptable. It’s destroying the legacy of the island.”
[post_ads]Ariel Weil, mayor of the 4th district of Paris, told Reuters that the urinals are necessary for folks who just can’t control themselves. “If we don’t do anything, then men are just going to pee in the streets,” Weil said. “If it is really bothering people, we will find another location.”
The web site for Uritrottoir boasts that it’s the “eco solution to public peeing.”
A diagram on the site depicts a man urinating into the receptacle, which is stuffed with straw, the combination being transformed into compost, and then that compost being used to fertilize flowers a year later. To drive that point home, the Uritrottoirs come complete with a flower bed atop the bins.
The brand comes in several different models, ranging from the “Parfait” size, which holds “90 urinations,” to the “Stout XL,” which can pack up to “270 Urinations.”
Reps for New York City’s official tourism agency did not return a request for comment on whether the Uritrottoirs could work in packed Big Apple destinations like Times Square.
But Uritrottoir’s web site suggests its the perfect accessory for any tourist draws. “Everywhere, where communities have to deal with nuisances associated with the influx of people: city center, restaurants, events and facilities open to the public… the uritrottoir offers an environmentally friendly, economical and efficient solution for wild peeing,” the site states.
