Community Corner

New England News: New York Turns Payphones into Free WiFi

Payphone kiosks — ostensibly relics — are being made over in some New York City boroughs.

 

What's there to do with unsightly payphone kiosks sprawled across New York City?

Turn them into free WiFi hotspots.

Find out what's happening in Woodbury-Middleburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to GigaOM, the city is testing a pilot program which converted 10 kiosks in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens into the hotspots. The hotspots are free to the public, and as of yet, don't have any ads on them. 

According to the report, should the pilot program be successful, more of the city's 13,000 payphones could be converted to hotspots. The company which owns the payphones, Van Wagner Communications, would be in charge of maintenance and other costs. 

Find out what's happening in Woodbury-Middleburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The locations are as follows:

Brooklyn

Queens 

Manhattan


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