So long NYC payphones and thanks for all the phreaks

The last free-standing public payphones in NYC are being removed. Today the final one in Midtown Manhattan flew away as onlookers and media gawked.

There is it goes … pic.twitter.com/88L3KEvNcT

— Dan Levitan (@DanLevitan) May 23, 2022

That particular booth’s fate isn’t so terrible however, it’s going to a new home in the collection of the Museum of the City of NY!

Pay phones are being replaced by something like this LinkNYC terminal – a roll-out that’s been happening since like 2015. The calls may be free but there will always been new ways to hack the planet of course.

NYC news site Hell Gate has a nice post about the real story on the ground/underground.

#### The Death of NYC Pay Phones Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Hell Gate placed a call from a pay phone located in the 14th Street subway station, and it sounded fantastic.