A Sidewalk Oasis, if You Can Find One.

The automated public toilet at National Street and Corona Plaza in Queens -- a self-cleaning contraption that douses itself with disinfectant after each use -- is a prince among lavatories. A stone's throw from the elevated tracks of the No. 7 train, translucent panels jut from a roof topped with a pyramidal skylight. Gender-specific pictographs and Braille text adorn a panel by the door. Inside, revealed for the admission price of 25 cents, is gleaming metalwork and a machine that dispenses toilet paper while making a mewling sound like that of a small wounded animal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]