Public bathrooms may be the solution to sanitation and deterioration problems in a Chinatown alleyway, according to the monthly Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C meeting held Tuesday.

 

The alleyway between Fifth and Sixth streets has been a matter of discussion over what some have called poor sanitation since January. The city has tried initiatives to tackle problems, including illegal dumping of trash and drinking.  However, it has failed to address public urination and defecation, which mainly stem from the lack of public bathrooms for the homeless, Ward 2 Mayor's Liaison Joe Florio explained.

 

"There is a working group that is deciding to put public restrooms across the city and high traffic areas," Florio said. "They are entering some sort of phase where they're looking at installing a public restroom that would be maintained by the city."

 

Homeowners have provided recommendations for public restroom locations to the District of Columbia Department of Public Works for over a year to little avail. For unhoused individuals taking refuge in the nearby Gospel Rescue Ministries shelter, public bathrooms are a basic need the city has failed to provide, according to Baul Butler, 56, a homeless person who has lived near the alley for a year and a half.

 

"They need to build public toilets around here," Butler said, adding that that would help a lot. He also said that the city needed to do a lot more to help the homeless. 

 

Butler further complained about a mouse infestation in the alleyway. In recent months' redress efforts, the city has been baiting for rodents, installing new cameras and "no dumping" signs, and conducting door-to-door inspections of the surrounding businesses.

 

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C, which serves the Chinatown, Downtown and Penn Quarter neighborhoods, has also proposed the alleyway to AlleyPalooza, a campaign launched by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to repair eight alleys in each of the eight wards over 12 weeks. 

 

Florio said he hoped property and business owners, as well as those living in the shelter, would comply with the neighborhood's sanitary guidelines and maintain the alley once it is restored.

 

"I would hate to have a brand new alley going into disrepair because bad actors aren't changing their behavior," Florio said. "I would want to see this alley be a solid alleyway for years to come."

 

Although everyone is on board with the initiative to build more public bathrooms, not everyone agrees with the debate around the state of the alleyway.

 

Edward James, 41, was visiting a friend living in the alley on the following Monday afternoon. He said that this was one of the nicest alleys he had seen and blamed gentrification for its bad reputation.

 

"If they don't like living in an urban environment, go back to a country or suburban type of environment because it's a city," James said. "Any city you go to, you're gonna get that."