Why this sign isn’t pictured in the 
Tourist guide to Shelter Island, I have no idea.
(Thanks to Laurie’s Aunt Sylvia for snapping the picture!)
related: How’s that for a low price guarantee?
The town recommends you hold it.
September 29th, 2010 · 77 comments
FILED UNDER: bar · Long Island · New York · toilet · tourists
77 responses so far ↓
#1
partypooper
you don’t have to be so pissy about it!
Sep 29, 2010 at 8:20 pm rating: 36
#2
dbm
Suddenly I feel Firsty.
Sep 29, 2010 at 8:26 pm rating: 0
#3
MinnKB
So you thought you were drinkin’ a warmish Heineken? Think again.
Sep 29, 2010 at 8:39 pm rating: 12
#4
oracle
what hidden secrets must SI hold to be worth the acceptance of unfriendly restrooms?
Sep 29, 2010 at 8:45 pm rating: 3
#5
Snippy
Wait a second, is this really “the the town of SI” or are you talking about that Ben Affleck movie?
Sep 29, 2010 at 9:02 pm rating: 2
#6
FeRD
This becomes all the more “amusing” (read: dickish) once you find out that, unlike many such locations where the “island” designation is more of an abstract concept, Shelter Island actually is an island. (It’s a small land mass situated between the two “forks” at the eastern end of Long Island. In what I’d call a bay, but somehow is considered like 10 different bays.)
So, if you find yourself needing a restroom and decide to pop over to neighboring, pee-friendly Greenpoint or Sag Harbor, you’d better hope you’ve timed it right to catch a ferry crossing!
Personally, I’d be more inclined to tear down that sign, pop around behind Bitchy’s Bar (pictured in the photo above – at least, I assume that’s the name of the establishment) to leave them a small token of my esteem, and then use their “suggestion” to wipe my ass.
Sep 29, 2010 at 9:04 pm rating: 31
#7
Kim
For those who are not familiar, you can only get to Sag Harbor or Greenport from SI via a ferry.
I get that summer tourists can be a pain in the ass to locals. Maybe all the tourists should just NOT GO to Shelter Island in the first place. Maybe then the proprietors of this establishment will be happy.
Sep 29, 2010 at 9:04 pm rating: 42
#8
se
In SI, restrooms shit on you.
Sep 29, 2010 at 9:05 pm rating: 28
#9
DixieKGirl
How can you serve beer and NOT have a public restroom?
Sep 29, 2010 at 9:13 pm rating: 10
#10
Madrias
Fine, I’ll shit on your sidewalk as my passive-aggressive statement.
Sep 29, 2010 at 10:19 pm rating: 6
#11
Anonymous
I actually work across the street from that place. It’s called The Dory. It’s actually really irritating because people come in and ask us to use our bathroom all day as well (lots of foreign tourists straight off the ferry). We don’t have a sign up because my boss feels it’s rude, so I have to tell people all day that there’s no bathroom.
There are public restrooms at a gas station next door and at both of the ferry terminals on the island.
Sep 29, 2010 at 10:48 pm rating: 12
#12
Ellski
My work has a staff only toilet, and a customer once screamed at me that it’s a violation of her human rights to not let her use the toilet! Um, I’m pretty sure it’s not a human right to use a private toilet!
Sep 29, 2010 at 10:55 pm rating: 5
#13
VerityBrown
I was going to guess that this sign was a kind of PA protest of the town’s lack of public restrooms (which leads to people asking to use theirs). But I see in an earlier (presumably knowledgeable) comment that the town does, in fact, have designated public restrooms. In which case, it would make more sense to put up a sign that tells where those restrooms are located, rather than just being snotty at potential customers.
Sep 29, 2010 at 11:08 pm rating: 27
#14
Woman on the Verge
So, this town is restroom-hostile? What will they do to you if you try to pee? Maybe this is a warning, like an X-Files episode… I bet there’s some horrible beast in the sewer that is attracted to urine so when you unsuspectingly go into the stall… CHOMP.
Or not.
Sep 30, 2010 at 7:14 am rating: 7
#15
The Elf
Good think I’m not opposed to peeing behind handy nearby trees. Or buildings. I’m not picky. When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Sep 30, 2010 at 8:04 am rating: 1
#16
a*p
That sign just encourages public urination. Why not point out where the public bathrooms are? How far away is the ferry station? Does this mean even customers can’t use the bathroom? Gah.
Sep 30, 2010 at 8:12 am rating: 11
#17
People are funny
So they fill you up with beer and won’t let you use the bathroom? Rude.
Sep 30, 2010 at 8:44 am rating: 6
#18
havingfitz
I’m going to kind of play devil’s advocate here. I agree the sign is nasty for no reason. But I work in an office building with limited restroom space. There are no shops or stores in the building: strictly offices. People wander in off the streets all the time to use our facilities: when you only get a short break it’s irritating to spend most of it waiting to use the bathroom, especially when it’s being tied up by people who don’t even belong in the building.
Sep 30, 2010 at 8:57 am rating: 3
#19
Woman on the Verge
For goodness sakes it’s an island. Go pee in the water. Pretty sure once you get started, someone will offer you a restroom… even if it’s at the police station.
Sep 30, 2010 at 9:24 am rating: 14
#20
aaa
Well who the fuck pees in a toilet, anyway? Cool kids pee as they go. If they’re those high class, persnickety types, they may find a corner to pee in.
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:00 am rating: 5
#21
Elmo
They want to sell me beer and then won’t let me pee? That’s cruel. The only thing worse would be pushing iced tea to someone taking blood pressure meds.
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:36 am rating: 3
#22
berge
Nothing says “Buy a beer from us” like a sign telling you to hold it.
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:39 am rating: 16
#23
Woman on the Verge
I finally figured it out. This is a bar and medical supply store combo. Half-price catheters with every pitcher of beer.
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:56 am rating: 2
#24
GhostWriter
Why shamrocks around Heineken? It’s a Dutch beer.
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:57 am rating: 4
#25
fan
The problem I have with notes of this nature is, as soon as I see one I have to pee really, really bad… the power of suggestion, maybe?
Sep 30, 2010 at 1:09 pm rating: 7
#26
Anonymous
I think the message is addressed to people who wander in and want to use the restroom—the bar does have a bathroom for patron use. And a dory is a type of fish.
Btw I’m totally not defending them—the sign is really rude and the food there is horrible.
Sep 30, 2010 at 4:45 pm rating: 2
#27
Anonymous
….And they also have another printed sign on the sidewalk that says NO public restrooms, which is out there every day as well. A little overkill, no?
Sep 30, 2010 at 4:47 pm rating: 1
#28
Mike Oxlong
I just went behind the building
Sep 30, 2010 at 8:52 pm rating: 0
#29
Canthz_B
Simple solution…walk in, sit down, order something time consuming to prepare, ask where the restroom is, use restroom, politely cancel order, leave.
Sep 30, 2010 at 9:39 pm rating: 11
#30
havingfitz
Ain’t it sad what a town without potty can do?
Sep 30, 2010 at 11:45 pm rating: 0
#31
Neeners
I was at the town hall meeting the day the WHOLE town voted on outsiders holding it. A motion was brought forward and it was unanimous….. they also voted to not be a friendly municipality as stated.
Oct 1, 2010 at 11:03 am rating: 3
#32
mo
I had a small business in a town that spent millions on renovating the streetscape to be a quaint faux-Victorian town, but omitted public restrooms.
As a business owner, I know what it’s like to want to post that sign to the tourists who don’t understand why they can’t pee.
Oct 5, 2010 at 10:26 am rating: 1
#33
La La Land
Perhaps they like it when tourists walk around back to relieve themselves?
Oct 28, 2010 at 5:45 am rating: 0
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