Welcome to The Coffee Break WFHishNYC’s series is a profile series on interesting New Yorkers worth talking about. I sit down with writers, influencers, thinkers, activists and business disruptors that make this city so special.
Teddy Theodora "Teddy" Siegel joined me for coffee at Ariston, a hybrid flower store and coffee shop and boy was it something.
Siegel, better known as the mind behind ‘got2gonyc’, has quickly catapulted as local stardom in the social media verse. If George Costanza was a real person, he would be proud, or maybe a bit slighted by Siegel’s endeavor.
If you're not familiar, got2gonyc is one of the most comprehensive guides to public restrooms anywhere in New York City — codes, cleanliness and all that fun stuff. The brand which stretches from Twitter — to TikTok and Instagram — has become a key tool for just about any New Yorker that needs to make a bowel movement of some kind while out and about.
Siegel says she did not expect this to blow up this much. It was frankly a tool for herself and if it helped others, that’s an added bonus.
Siegel has since become a champion for the cause — pushing city hall to make it easier for anyone regardless of socioeconomic status to get a place to go.
“There still is a lot of work to be done,” Siegel said.
The most comprehensive legislation in New York is from City Councilwoman Rita Joseph. It calls for the Department of Transportation to identify a location for at least one public restroom per zip code ... ONE.
Frankly, it should be the number one issue for mayor Adams…. or maybe number two.
“There is a lot of potential for me to do more work,” Siegel said. Although it doesn’t necessarily mean it would be political.
“I sat through one city council meeting for three hours waiting to testify for the bathroom bill and I was like I never want to be here ever again,” she said adding, “it’s a hard no.”
“It’s more creative what I do,” says Siegel.
The move has also catapulted her not just to social media stardom but also featured on NY1 and even national news outlets. She even has an op-ed published in the New York Times about the issue.
A local to the region, she is now a student at New School pursuing a Masters Degree. She’s on track to become an iconic Opera singer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her making waves at the Metropolitan Opera both on stage and on stage.
This wouldn’t be iconically WFHishNYC if we didn’t dive into her top recommendations of coffee shops to get a bit of work done and use the bathroom…
ArisTON
78 5th Ave
Devocion - Flatiron
25 E 20th St
Ole & Steen
873 Broadway
Felix and Co.
2 Astor Pl
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