New York City removes the last payphone from service

Workers remove the final New York City payphone near Seventh Avenue and 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on May 23, 2022.

New York City removed its last public payphone on Monday.

The enclosures were an icon in the city. The booths were obsolete because of the rise of cell phones.

The Office of Technology and Innovation said in a press release that the effort to replace public pay telephones began in 2014.

CityBridge was selected by officials to develop and operate LinkNYC kiosks. The city began removing street payphones in 2015.

There are nearly 2,000 kiosks in the city.

The digital evolution has progressed from payphones to high-speed wi-fi kiosks to meet the demands of our rapidly changing daily communications needs, just like we transitioned from the horse and buggy to the automobile and from the airplane.

The Museum of the City of New York will display the last public pay telephone as part of an exhibit looking back at life in the city before computers.

You can subscribe to CNBC on the internet.