City Of New Orleans Begins Removing Abandoned Pay Phone Kiosks

From the City of New Orleans:

March 2, 2021

The City of New Orleans today announced that Department of Public Works maintenance contractor Hard Rock Construction, LLC, will begin removing abandoned pay phone kiosks this week in the public right-of-way. A total of 77 total pay phone kiosks will be removed in batches of 10 and subsequently available during public auction. The first 10 will be removed from the Central City neighborhood and available during the April 2021 public auction.

Abandoned public pay phones largely became obsolete with widespread use of personal cellular phones; although the phones have been removed, kiosks have remained in the public right-of-way. As part of the approximately $60,000 removal process, the contractor will restore the damaged concrete sidewalk panels on which the majority of the kiosks rest.

"This is a small project in dollars, but substantial in terms of the impact to people's everyday lives," said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Ramsey Green. "Removing these outdated kiosks is a big quality-of-life win for residents who live in these neighborhoods. I am grateful to Councilmember Moreno for partnering with the administration to make this important project a reality."

"This is the result of work begun by a constituent named Michael Burnside who documented countless broken payphones in all different neighborhoods and turned over the information to our office," said City Council President Helena Moreno. "I'm proud of the collaboration with the City to now remove this antiquated infrastructure. Clearly the City had permitted the payphones at one time, but research showed these are now abandoned by the owner, therefore allowing for the removal. Picking up these disconnected pay phones is just one small way to show respect for our neighborhoods and make progress toward inviting public spaces."

A list of the know locations of the abandoned kiosks is available here. Residents who wish to report additional locations of abandoned pay phone kiosks may report them to 311.

This press release was produced by the City of New Orleans. The views expressed are the author's own.