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This East Village Eatery Has Side-By-Side Toilets to Ward Off Loneliness

By Allegra Hobbs | April 29, 2016 5:29pm | Updated on May 1, 2016 5:45pm
 The Cloister Cafe's men's room, where stalls are enemies of friendship.
The Cloister Cafe's men's room, where stalls are enemies of friendship.
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Aram Zucker-Scharff

Are you and your best friend close? The Cloister Cafe gets you.

The medieval-themed restaurant and hookah bar at 238 E. Ninth Street has placed its toilets in their bathrooms side-by-side, uninhibited by walls — so that you and your BFF don’t have to be apart for a second, said one employee.

“It’s to not be lonely,” said server Alena, who declined to share her last name. “Some people, very close friends, like to use the same bathroom.”

The cafe has two gender-coded restrooms, one for men and one for women, each with the same layout — two toilets so close, they are almost touching.

The men’s room does not have urinals, said Alena.

The intimate set-up is also designed to elicit some laughs, said Alena, adding that the concept is “kind of a joke.”