Last call: New York City bids an official farewell to its last public pay phone
Officials gathered in Times Square for the removal of what they called New York City's last public pay phone, which is headed to a local museum. But a number of other pay phones are still standing.
New York City pay phones are officially a thing of history. The last public pay phone was removed from the streets of midtown Manhattan on Monday, and is heading straight to an exhibit in a local museum.
It's the final chapter in a saga that's been unfolding since 2015, when the city started uprooting phone booths and replacing them with LinkNYC kiosks, which offer free public Wi-Fi, charging ports, 911 buttons and screens with maps and other services (they also generate revenue for the city).
On Monday, officials to bid of a crane slowly lifting the phone booth — with two corded phones separated by a divider — onto the bed of a truck.
