Mayor calls for new ideas to update city's payphones

A man makes a phone call with his mobile phone... — A man makes a phone call with his mobile phone in an empty public payphone booth. (Getty) Credit: A man makes a phone call with his mobile phone in an empty public payphone booth. (Getty)

By IVAN PEREIRADecember 5, 2012

The mayor says there's still a place for pay phones in the 21st Century.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications launched the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge Wednesday, seeking urban designers, policy experts and engineers to update the phones' look and functionality.

Although the number of public pa phones had decreased by 24,000 over the last 20 years thanks to cell phones, the mayor said they are critical during emergencies such as Superstorm Sandy.

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