You can do anything in New York City: Have baby food delivered at 4:30 am. Take the subway to a primeval forest. Gawk at an island floating around town.
But one thing that you can't do--not easily, anyway--is find a public restroom. Now, after a an effort spanning ten years and three different mayors, New York City will be getting 20 public toilets on city streets. The freestanding toilets could generate $1 billion for the city over the next 20 years, thanks to a small user fee and fees from the company that will operate the facilities. (You might say New York will be flush with revenue from this project...)
The toilets are part of a larger contract to standardize the city's "street furniture"--the bus stops, newsstands, etc. They'll start appearing on the streets in 2007. Until then, if ya gotta go, ya gotta go someplace else.
BONUS: George Castanza's favorite public toilets in NYC (near bottom).