Riverhead information kiosk to be removed

A thick layer of dirt covers the blank touch screen of the black information kiosk plugged into an outlet on the porch of the East End Arts Council School building on East Main Street in Riverhead.

White letters warn people that the machine is “under surveillance,” but it hasn’t worked for years and — as of last Tuesday night — it was officially worthless.

The Riverhead Town Board voted 5-0 to declare the machine as surplus and of no value, and to order that it be disposed of.

“Is that the one that we can’t get parts for?” Town Councilman James Wooten asked. It was.

The town landed two information kiosks in 2005 through a county downtown revitalization grant, and officials hoped that tourists would simply touch the screen and find the local restaurants and other attractions they were seeking.

One was put out at the Tanger Outlet Mall, and the other went to the arts council. But they were rarely used. The one at Tanger was removed “some time ago,” according to a town board resolution, which declared the remaining kiosk “no longer functioning and beyond repair.”