Subway Pay Phones Harder To Find

Fewer pay telephones are in operation these days in the city's subway stations, and the number is expected to shrink further.

Between 2003 and the end of this year, the number of phones on subway platforms in New York City will have declined by about 20%. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Tim O'Brien, said there were presently about 5,100 phones in subway stations and by the end of the year the number would decline to 4,700 or 4,800. He said there were no plans to decrease this number further. The number of subway phones was at a high in 2003-04, with a total of about 6,000, he said.

A spokeswoman for Verizon, Heather Wilner, said that in general the number of pay phones overall has declined, and the main reason for that is the increase in wireless service. She said Verizon has about 8,000 pay phones on the sidewalks throughout the five boroughs.

The staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider's advocacy group, Gene Russianoff, said it was worrisome, as many people rely on these phones as their sole form of communication.

New Yorkers were blithe to news that one-fifth fewer phones were on subway platform phones between 2003 and the end of this coming year. They seemed to take it in stride. Maria Torres of Washington Heights said she doesn't use the subway phones but rides the subways. She said she is more concerned about delayed trains.

A man standing near her on the C platform at Chambers Street, who declined to give his name, said he could not care less about fewer phones in the subways. He pointed to his BlackBerry device and said he wanted cell phone service in the stations. Loida Tapia of Canarsie said she was not particularly concerned that there were fewer phones just as long as there were still some in the subway system.

A Straphangers coordinator who oversees subway pay phone quality, Neysa Pranger, said reducing phones can limit the lines of communications for New Yorkers who cannot afford a cell phone. In times of emergency, she said, pay phones keep riders in touch with family and loved ones. She said an MTA report in 2005 found that half of those riding the subway did not have cell phones.

Additionally, a number of pay phones do not work. A Straphangers survey released last year showed that 29% of subway phones were not functioning, whether because of damaged receivers, no dial tone, or blocked coin slots.