New York City removes its last public payphone

New York City has officially pulled the plug on its last public payphone.

On Monday morning, city officials removed the historic set-up located on 7th Ave. and 50th St. in Midtown Manhattan -- which was very much the last of its kind.

"What a beautiful day to be here to celebrate the end of what used to be the primary lifeline service for many New Yorkers," said Matthew Fraser, New York City's chief technology officer.

Although payphone usage had decreased, city officials said that public pay telephones were still used for regular calls and long-distance calls.

Currently, there are still four full-length so-called "Superman booths" on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.

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"There is it goes …" @DanLevitan/Twitter

And as you might have already anticipated, they are basically museum pieces that kids could use for Instagram photoshoots.

Private payphones on public property will remain.

The Big Apple began taking thousands of payphones off the streets back in 2015 and changed them to public Wi-Fi hotspots.

New York City's last public payphone.@DanLevitan/Twitter

In 2014, there were over 6,000 active public pay telephones on the city's sidewalks, as stated by the city website.

The payphones were all to be removed by 2020, but the process took much longer than initially planned.

The Wi-Fi hotspots grant people access to free Wi-Fi as well as free phone calls within the US, transit and weather notifications, and access to the social services directory.

This summer, LinkNYC, which runs the Wi-Fi hotspots, reportedly will have 5G technology this summer which will be efficient for New Yorkers out and about.

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