End of an era: Last street payphone in New York City removed

It was the end of an era in New York City today: the city's last remaining payphone was removed. With the advent of cellphones, pay phones across the world have vanished – but one still remained on 7th Avenue, until its removal Monday by LinkNYC.

The removal of pay phones in New York City began in 2015, and LinkNYC is the technology that essentially replaced them. CityBridge developed LinkNYC, which look like digital billboards that offer free high-speed WiFi to the streets of New York. 

Since LinkNYC was installed, it has facilitated over 3 billion WiFi sessions with more than 10 million subscribers. The digital billboards also display PSAs, art and other local information. LinkNYC will soon be providing 5G coverage to New York City.