NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans has 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 pay phone kiosks will be removed in batches of 10 and made available during public auction. The first 10 will be removed from Central City and auctioned in April .
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 “Removing these outdated kiosks is a big quality-of-life win for residents who live in these neighborhoods.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.”
A list of the known 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.