Public payphones were once a fixture of New York City’s streets, but they could soon become an urban relic.
City officials say they plan to remove 30 open-air pay phones in Hell’s Kitchen by the end of March, and the remaining ones shortly thereafter.
City Council speaker Corey Johnson says that his office received multiple complaints about the “antiquated and outdated” pay phone booths.
While traditional walk-in phone booths can still be found along West End Avenue at the corner of 66th, 90th, 100th and 101st streets, the rest are on their way out, to be replaced by new LinkNYC Wi-Fi kiosks.
City Bridge, the company behind LinkNYC plans to install up to 10,000 kiosks across all five boroughs, which are expected to rake in $500M in revenue at no cost to taxpayers.
