Looks kinda like an elevator.....that smells like 20 fat people stuck in it farting.

gamecrazychris

Anyone see the episode of CSI:NY where someone was murdered by one of these toilets when they got trapped inside during the self-cleaning process. Classic!

dink23

why would you want the crack whores to be included ? unless your a sick F@$K I GUESS. WHAT EVA FLOOTS YOUR BOAT

farmerjonn

@92BuickLeSabre: Fly over the burning wasteland, or construct a neurotic monorail that requires you to riddle with it for a ride?

Xavoc

@preskewl: Honestly, even as a conservative I can appreciate the $.20 charge for bags. I think it's a great idea personally. It isn't like you pay state income tax...

Maybe you should read the article as to why they were an issue, and why they cost so much. Supersonics, meh. You're upset that one out of three teams ran away crying?

Xavoc

@Xavoc: Whoa, whoa, whoa....nobody said anything about bombing anything or anybody. Plus, how else would I get to Philly or Baltimore?

92BuickLeSabre

Oh.. one more thing. The Seattle Monorail..

preskewl

This is a reason why we have a stupid ass Major Greg Nichols!! He wasted tax money on this crack infested bathrooms and now wants to sell it on Ebay? What a track record, We lost the Seattle Supersonics, He is trying to implement a 20 cent extra charge for plastic grocery bags and now getting rid of a 5 million dollar toilet bowls.. Whoever buys this, please take our Major too!! Why not have a toilet and a shit ass major with it.. *end of rant*

preskewl

@92BuickLeSabre: Just please! Bomb New Jersey! You know it's bad when you could light a place on fire and it'd smell better while burning than before application of flame.

Xavoc

@Hectorvex: In SF merchants have pioneered a new signage initiative - "Restrooms for paying customers only. All others use the sidewalk."

propertius

*adolescent thoughts of vandalism running through head*
looks like a fun place to put a bonfire / M-80 / graffiti / padlock on outside / smoke bomb / stink bomb / etc....

venomous_duck41

@aseriesoftubes: Well, not so much commute. I just used it to get from work to Internap to do maintenance on colo systems.

It allowed me to skip the no-man's land between Westlake and Seattle City Center without worrying about being mugged. Some of that area gets sketchy in a hurry. Not all of it, but enough to make me wish my employer had let me carry.

Xavoc

@Hectorvex: I know they do!
That's why I would prefer if they would stop standing in NYC!

No one would use them in Jersey anyway. You know that inherent Jersey fear of shiny, new, clean things that smell better than their surroundings.

92BuickLeSabre

@Xavoc: I'm just jealous that you got to use the monorail to commute. If it went up Queen Anne I'd probably think it was super sweet (I live up there). :)

aseriesoftubes

Michael will be picking these up for his Neverland.

Noobs-R-Us

@92BuickLeSabre: Haven't you ever been to Jersey? They just piss where they stand. I don't even think they have plumbing there. Maybe Seattle should just ship these things there instead.

Hectorvex

Also, it seems to me that Seattle's crackheads are proud of their addiction and they want everyone to know it. Veronyka Corder's quote above reminds me of an incident that sticks out in my mind.

-anecdote time-

I was waiting for the bus on 3rd and Pike one evening and I heard two women fighting. One was a meth head and one a crackhead. The meth head was bashing the crackhead for being a crackhead, and the crackhead started yelling "Yeah, I smoke crack! I'm gonna go smoke crack now!" This on one of the most heavily patrolled blocks in the city. Sigh, crack is depressing.

aseriesoftubes

@Justapspfan: But I'm guessing not the ones in your own neighborhood you punk!
As someone who lives in one of those neighborhoods and works in another.... ...Grrrr....*shakes fist*

And I swear to God, if I find out you're coming over from Jersey to piss in our alleys!
*Shakes both fists!*

(Summer in NYC really makes me hate street/alley pissers.)

@aseriesoftubes: At least you're getting all that money back from the Sonics!

@KRingg: "No, you don't wipe your hands on the dryer!

92BuickLeSabre

@Xavoc: with a bad hangover and what ever i ate when i was drunk, 5 min. isnt nearly long enough in case of an emergency... which is exactly what it would take for me to set foot in one of these germ pods.

venomous_duck41

@Tony C: Yeah. Somewhere some strange eccentric rich dude is buying two of these cause he loves the smell of crack whores and shit.

Hectorvex

SF already has these things, but could always use more - for aforementioned users and the few desperate who must heed necessity in these devices - whether stuck on open or functional. Email alert to Sup. Pestin and Mayor Nuisance at once.

propertius

this would be good in lets say a correctional facility!?

wilkart

Couldn't they have just done the bit that SF did? Change the interior lighting to red to make it harder to find a vein, and set the time limit to 5 min for the autolocking doors?

Xavoc

@aseriesoftubes: Seattle taxpayer... We really don't pay much in tax at all here as far as I can tell. Honestly, the monorail is quaint, and while I wish I didn't feel like I was going to a sock-hop in it, I do appreciate it being there for use. I had to use it regularly to get to the Seattle Center for work earlier this year, and it was extremely convenient and smelled a lot less like piss and BO than the busses do.

Xavoc

$89k is a relative bargain, but still, you can get a condo or house for that price in some areas! Maybe flip it for a profit? LOL =)

Tony C

Oh gosh, look at the other pictures on Ebay... particularly this one: Hand Dryer!

If that's as clean as they could get it for resale images, I don't want to know what it looked like before.

KRingg

wow, agreed, best quote ever. i can't even imagine how nasty those things were if they were too disgusting for a crack addict.

MrBlahBlah

Now all we need to do is sell off our stupid monorail to the highest bidder. That way, we might be able to recover some of the millions we spent *talking about* how to expand it.

[disgruntled Seattle taxpayer here]

aseriesoftubes

i was watchin the news a while back and they did a piece on how homeless people and drugies use it to either sell or do drugs.

one reporter actually did a stake out and watched 2 guys that looked like totally meth heads go in and when they came out they were all tweakin and the the reporter ran up to them to ask if they just did drugs and they were all freakin out.

lmao.

arcanedark

In NYC we just use alleyways its a lot cheaper and they're everywhere.

Justapspfan

@andy_taipei: "great idea", maybe if it were in a controlled enviroment like an amusemnt park, but, in a vastly populated urban envrioment where homelessness is a problem. Im saying you shoulda seen it coming. im actually kind of suprised the one pictured still had the doors on it, im seeing a terrific place to flush your contraban if being chased by the cops since the doors lock for 20 min.

venomous_duck41

BEST QUOTE EVER!

God, I'm a journalist. I just hope and pray that one day, a source would give me a quote half as awesome as that one!

mcjake

@Hectorvex: That's not really much of a surprise.

92BuickLeSabre

Wow, an $89,000 contraption that even a crack whore won't go into. I'll take a port-o-potty and a hose and call it a day. At least I know I can get a crack whore into a semi-clean port-o-potty. The five dollar surprise! (The surprise is crabs.)

Hectorvex

I am sorry to hear they did not work out. I wonder if they would work if they where placed in another location in Seattle? Maybe the Vancouver Parks Board should look at adding them in Vancouver, Canada.

A great loss for Seattle. Too bad a few people have to ruin a great idea.

andy_taipei

i like the dents on the door, somebody had to go bad...

emanresu

"I'm not going to lie: I used to smoke crack in there," said one homeless woman, Veronyka Cordner...But I won't even go inside that thing now. It's disgusting."

John, why are you lifting quotes from Gawker's Madonna coverage?

92BuickLeSabre

20 minutes? That's like 19 minutes for cigarette-smoking lounging afterward.

The Lab

Complete with noxious detritus congealing in the corners.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Are the whores included, or are they extra?

Munch the BanNail

Do they come equipped with said prostitutes?

SonOfMagicFact

Awesome!! I'll pick up two for the next kegger.

LoganSix

@Xavoc: You've made a good point - personal cleanliness should be encouraged, even if achieved in a disorderly way - though I should caution that we don't know she was homeless. Maybe she has a functioning bathroom at home but prefers to bathe in a public convenience. Wouldn't surprise me in SF.

propertius

I used one of those on Capital Hill once a couple years ago. It wasn't gross then. In fact, it was actually quite cool. Too bad they didn't anticipate on all the Seattle Bums...

Aarheadc

@tuckertuck: You know, I'll bet that would have worked out better too.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

I like the emergency call button. Good lord, I don't even want to think of the type of emergency that could happen where you couldn't get out and needed to use the call button.

"Ahh, Help! Its filling up with water in here 'cuz the drain is so clogged with crack pipes and used condoms! Ahh! One touched my leg! Heeellllp! *BLUB BLUB BLUB*"

LastVigilante

@92BuickLeSabre: Ex-Gov McGreevy would love these on the Turnpike! Especially if they drilled a 2" hole in the back. You know, for the "glory" of it all!

@Xavoc: Whoa! Maybe just a few little bombs, ok. And North-East Joisey. You know, like above Exits 9 and 10. Piss-that-away...to the Oranges...

SigmundTheSeaMonster

They should have made them paytoilets.

tuckertuck

@andy_taipei:

Maybe the Vancouver Parks Board should look at adding them in Vancouver, Canada.

great idea. Vancouver hardly has any cracked-out hobos.

oh... wait a minute. nevermind.

x23

did they bother charging people to use these things? that's what some of the auto-toilets in SF do, and the ones i've seen are not disgusting. Surely some people would pay to get in there anyway, but i have to imagine there's a better solution than just selling the things.

norfizzle

@andy_taipei: I agree, these look like a great idea... perhaps though they where a little to much for Seattle streets? They'd probably do really well in higher class areas where you only have to worry about bored teens. Seems a shame, so much nicer than the average public restrooms.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

@Logan5: The crack whores in Europe are cleaner?

Hectorvex

Strangely, these things seem to work well in Europe.

What that says about us or about Europeans is up for interpretation.

Logan5

They should just donate these things to MythBusters... I bet they'd know what to do with these things.

danson

Looks like fun.

aaj111

I'm going to chime in about how nice the good old Monorail is to have in Seattle too. I use it regularly for a commute and especially appreciate the above mentioned "smelling a lot less like piss and BO than the buses do". Sadly though, the retrofitting they are doing will strip much of the classic 1962 look from the interior of the cars- but I too would be glad if they dropped the sock hop music :-)

Brent

Yeah, i would pick one just for the giggles that the translation of soap (jabón in spanish) would cause when you discover that they put "Japón" (Spanish for Japan) instead of the right one. Endless conversations about the total disrespect for spanish would start!!! This is priceless for parties...

Daisuash

@farmerjonn: Why wouldn't you want crack whores included? For $89,000 I better get a damn crack whore with my toilet.

Hectorvex

how much is shipping?

se7a7n7

@propertius: So, now you're upset that someone was trying to bathe, who doesn't have a home. It's not like this city, let alone the state, has a lot of money to combat these issues.

Why don't we put them to work. Those greenpeace folk who terrorize (approach) me on the street downtown for signatures (that get $1 per signature or so in pay) could hire them!

Xavoc

@farmerjonn: Check your caps lock. I think it's stuck.

92BuickLeSabre

NO MIKE WONT BE PICKING THESE UP FOR NEVERLAND. BECUASE NEVER LAND IS FOR SALE . HE LIVES IN VEGAS NOW

farmerjonn

@Xavoc: A friend of mine saw a lady trying to use one of these things as a shower stall - in public view @ 16th/Mission, where the surrounding neighborhood resembles the scene in the toilet.

propertius

@preskewl: In Seattle your mayors are called majors? Sweet, im moving there!

venomous_duck41

@Xavoc: Yeah, I'm with you on the grocery bag issue. My local grocery store acts like they're getting paid to give away plastic bags.

And as for the Sonics: good riddance! :)

aseriesoftubes

Holy crap.. "the cost per unit new is approximately $500,000"

What a waste. Another wise choice, Seattle. Thanks!

Mobius20

I live a block from the toilet in Pioneer Square. The city couldn't have done a better job of putting these things in closer proximity to homeless/druggie/bum hangouts. They're designed terribly, especially when you compare them to their average European counterparts. Why do they need hand dryers? Why aren't they composed of smooth surfaces? Why are they big enough to fit four people? I've always heard they were self-cleaning, but I've never actually seen the process happen. I've never seen one of them in any state that could possibly be described as "sanitary".

Seattle has a incredibly serious homeless problem, and these goddamned toilets only make it worse. The homeless people still piss and shit in the alleys, and the city still runs deoderizer trucks through them every week.

Here's an idea: Address the homeless problem.

Mobius20

@Hectorvex:my bad . would you like a side of STDS with your crack whore ? . & no my caps are not stuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

farmerjonn

@preskewl: Learn to spell, it's "Mayor", not "Major".

If you really hate Seattle that much, then just move out. Simple as that. I moved out of Seattle after living in the area for nearly 2 decades for a job in the SF Bay Area, and now, I'm yearning to move back.

dangster

You need a new sub-category instead of Anti-Dealzmodo. How about "Jizmodo?"

Samifumi

@danson: You are talking like Whores are bad. I think we're sliding off topic. On to the next amazing technological product being showcased at Gizmodo! Oh, it's the iPhone! Yee-haw!

Hectorvex

in the uk there was a reality prank show a few years back which rigged one of our versions of these to close on people and start the cleaning process. its pretty nightmarish in there when it gets going. if you ever got caught in there, youd definitely come out changed. of course thats our ones, which work pretty well. looking at some of the pics of this american version im not sure it cleans anything. for example, i think someone been frying eggs on the hand dryer.

aestheticity

Well,@Hectorvex: Well, crack is not intravenously taken, so I'd imagine crack users are not necessarily more likely to have AIDS. But crack WHOREs, on the other hand, are whores after all, and probably not the most health-conscious of the bunch. Probably likely to carry STDs. So, not AIDS in particular, but STDs in general.

danson

@farmerjonn: That's not a fair assumption. That all crack whores have AIDS. Dental problems, sure. And I think your caps lock is stuck again.

Hectorvex

Ah, these things. I remember one night in San Francisco my friend and I were caught without quarters, but a friendly homeless man helped us and showed us how to get into it for free. We paid him a dollar, but we owe him much more.

pearl

@hectorvex-would you like a side of AIDS WITH YOUR CRACK WHORE ?

farmerjonn

@92BuickLeSabre: Why would you want to go to Baltimore?

-AP-

I can't believe none of the UK readers have commented on "bidaloo" auction services.

infmom

@92buick lesabre .not stuck was to lazy to tap it again

farmerjonn

@farmerjonn:

"whores are not bad. crack whores are bad!!!!!!!!" Alrighty then... thank goodness for parthenogenesis.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

The Space Toilet! I used to live down the street from the one on Broadway, in Capitol Hill. I(very excitedly)used it once, early in its lifespan. At the time, somewhat clean and very welcome in an area where no business would let you use their toilet, despite laws instructing otherwise. But pretty soon it became an obvious crack shack/heroin park for the street kids. They shoulda charged for entry, like in Paris. Although I saw one near Moulin Rouge so full of garbage, clothing, and weird baglady shit that nobody could even sleep in it, let alone take a dump.

robotrousers

@aseriesoftubes:

Hey at least you guys have Nintendo lol.

@92BuickLeSabre:

No I dont pee in my own neighborhood, I usually pee in the neighborhoods with the clubs and bar in them at 3am lol.

This has got to be one of the better post on Gizmodo

Justapspfan

@shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog: I meant SHIFT+1. I typed CAPS cause that was the running gag before that. Oh well.

Hectorvex

@Hectorvex: umm, never saw him type '1'. :D

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

@farmerjonn: Well shit, now your CAPS+1 is stuck. You may want to clean the sticky off your keyboard.

Hectorvex

I for one, welcome our new toilet overlords

seze_one

whores are not bad. crack whores are bad!!!!!!!!

farmerjonn

they dont look that bad in the pics??????

ichi1

@venomous_duck41:
private emergency -> public spectacle - that's the urban adventure and what people come to SF for

@SigmundTheSeaMonster:
why settle for a furtive hole in the back - at the Castro facility the door is considered an inconvenience and premature dysfunction of the device is optimal

@Xavoc: employment of toilet malingerers is possible - they may be posted at any area where public access is not desired, as long as they're provided for amply and just allowed to "do their thing".

propertius

Ah... nothing like making sweet, sweet love in a giant soda can. It's sad to see them go! HA!

donlphi

@propertius: In that case i will stick to living in the corn-fed state of Indiana where all we need is a tree to pee. (rhyming unintentional)

venomous_duck41

I'm sure it was said in the comments above mine, but why couldn't they have used the five million dollars spent on the toilets to provide housing for the homeless?

gravitation

@ichi1: Yeah they very definitely just cleaned them for the pics. That's not how they look on a day-to-day basis.

Mobius20

@venomous_duck41: I'm thinking of getting out of CA! Maybe I'll end up in the Midwest. LOL! No earthquakes and probably less drama.

propertius

I don't see why everyone wants public restrooms so bad. just pass a law that businesses must make a bathroom available to passers-by if there's no discernable threat of misuse.
I mean, geez... they want to put up more ads to pay for this.

alpacalypse

And what do they plan to do with the money they get from vending the toilets on eBay "to recoup their losses"? Help the homeless?

gravitation

this is by far the best article i have read on gizmodo in long, long time.

jrghoull

wow! the doors lock for 20 minutes??? Clark Kent will have a tough time changing in there... or worse, he'll be high on crack when he gets out!

StarShooter1

Up next for sale....

The Mariners!

God I hate you Seattle. You cost me basketball.

BigPanda

They should try to get some venture capital and adapt the technology to private homes. I'm sure there are plenty of bachelors who are lazy cleaners, but don't have enough trash and crack whores lying around to clog bathroom drains.

Bloodboiler

@gravitation: please correct me if im wrong here but in my experience, but, giving something to one of these people doesnt do any good at all... they have more or less chosen to be here and will remain till they die or realize that their lifestyle is killing them. if you give a bum a house then they will trash it and abandon it, just like if you gave them a job. now, this is a generalization, but, would you really give a bunch of crack/meth heads and heorin addicts the keys to something that your tax dollars paid for? while it was unintended, thats exactly what happened in this instance. i agree that its sad that people live like this but they have to help them selvs if capeable. now, before you go trashing me for being insensitive, i am fully aware that theyre are plenty of people with mental problems and who have lost both legs in korea and the goverment screwed them etc. etc. etc. but there are already programs in place to help them and while they are still faulty i think we need to evaluate more choices rather than just building more shelters or what ever it is that you are suggesting.

venomous_duck41

Sorry to respond to above so late but as you know Gizmoto has a quick turnover. Your right, there are already programs in place but they are inadequate. Supply does not meet demand. You'd have to get at the root of the problem, and I'm not even sure that the system under which we live is either consistent or complete enough to address social injustice, and make everyone happy, hard-working, law-abiding citizens "contributing to a better tomorrow." But we have to start somewhere: first we walk a mile in the other man's shoes, then maybe we can think about a perfect society.

gravitation

Wow everyone, masterful comments on this one. Ok, ok, here's mine: sell them to the Sc-Fi channel for a new series called Dr. Poo

kwanzabot

@dangster: Take them both. SF and Seattle. I wish they would get their own statehood!!!

Take that! Doesn't EVERYBODY know that when you gotta go just find a Barnes & Noble or a Borders?

In NYC I have them all programmed in my crackberry (to stay on the crack talk) so when the moment comes...

Or a Starbucks that hasn't got a line to the loo.

rudolphdude

@aseriesoftubes: "My local grocery store acts like they're getting paid to give away plastic bags."

They kind of are. That twenty cents a bag is a new tax on groceries, pure and simple.

@gravitation: "why couldn't they have used the five million dollars spent on the toilets to provide housing for the homeless?"

Because anything you give to people for free will be turned into a shithole, which is rather the point of this whole exercise.

@gravitation: "then maybe we can think about a perfect society."

There is no perfect society, and the harder you try for it the worse things will get.

GadgetPlay

@GadgetPlay:

Great insight.

shooter

Another experiment into socialism gone awry. Gee, what a surprise. Imagine what would happen to housing provided such fine members of society.

shooter