If you were in New York City around 15 years ago, then you’d have noticed the small invasion of blue public toilets dotted around the city. These cost a quarter to use and acted as a convenient way to go about your business, while simultaneously being accessible for all body types.

However, at some point, many of them quickly vanished. That is, until now. The image below was pictured at Corona Plaza and recently, a few more have begun popping up around the city again. These work by spraying and cleaning the cubicle after use, before being dried which makes them usable for others.

Although many people speak highly of these – there may be a reason why they disappeared in the first place, as one resident said “It always smells like urine around that thing so I’d assume it’s nasty” while another New Yorker wrote: “They’re a failure of a program. Too expensive to maintain after opening but much needed in NYC.” Elsewhere, another local saw it as a chance to crack a joke and exclaimed: “$1 an hour, 24 dollars a day, 720 a month. Bro these studio apartments are a steal and the location is sick.” – With NYC rent prices these days, they may have a point.

Ultimately, it looks as though these are either a success or failure depending on your point of view. In fairness to the city, at least they tried with these which isn’t always the case with other public projects.