{"id":238005,"date":"2026-05-20T14:16:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238005\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:16:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:16:41","slug":"queens-college-students-call-for-improved-care-of-restrooms-as-budget-cuts-have-reduced-custodial-staff-the-knight-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238005\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens College Students Call For Improved Care of Restrooms As Budget Cuts Have Reduced Custodial Staff \u2013 The Knight News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the post-pandemic reopening of campus, Queens College students have noticed a steady decline in restroom maintenance. The recent budget cuts and widespread understaffing suggests that service reductions are being made out of financial necessity rather than sustainability measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As reported by The Knight News on March 17th, CUNY colleges are facing financial pressures as \u201crising operational costs and declining enrollment have strained institutional budgets as campuses work to maintain academic programs and essential service.<\/a>\u201d It\u2019s becoming clear that these financial constraints are not only affecting academic departments and classrooms, but restroom quality as well.<\/p>\n

The removal of paper towels is one of the many concerns that students have shared regarding the restrooms on campus. Senior Political Science major Tasha Jeffers said, \u201cThey\u2019re very dirty, often smell damp, have hair left in sinks and sometimes have no soap available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffers mentioned that she\u2019s had to travel to another building, specifically Honors Hall, to use the restroom because it\u2019s more reliable and cleaner. An anonymous student also shared their experiences in campus restrooms stating \u201ccampus bathrooms are generally not stocked and often messy with overflowing bins.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Restroom quality has become a building-by-building lottery for students. The growing inconsistency of maintenance across campus has them reflecting on the tuition they pay for these amenities. \u201cIt makes me feel like it\u2019s not worth it. We pay a lot in tuition, so basic services should be maintained,\u201d said Jeffers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While students continue to report frequent shortages of basic hygiene supplies, interim assistant Vice President for Facilities Planning and Operations Denese Gordon suggests that the issue may not be a simple lack of inventory. \u201cWe are exploring the lack of soap in restrooms as related to matters other than a restocking issue,\u201d Gordon stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post-pandemic transition from paper towels to electric hand dryers was made for cost efficiency and positive environmental impacts<\/a>. Regarding the absence of paper towels, Gordon mentioned that they are only provided in restrooms that do not have electric hand dryers. It\u2019s unclear which buildings have paper towels, if any at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were also other concerns discovered during the examination of restrooms, such as out-of-order stalls and structural decay on the third floor of Remsen Hall.<\/p>\n

Despite students\u2019 claims that reduced custodial staff and budget have led to a decline in maintenance, the college affirms that cleanliness standards are being met. \u201cThe college prides itself on managing budgetary and custodial resources under any circumstance so that it may continue to provide the expected level of service to the campus community,\u201d said Gordon. She further noted that despite budget pressures, \u201ccampus restrooms are cleaned daily.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the administration insists that essential restroom care and services remain unaffected by financial constraints, students who use the restrooms on campus daily experience a different reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the post-pandemic reopening of campus, Queens College students have noticed a steady decline in restroom maintenance. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-238005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}