Pay phones — once so vital, and now just a place for weird bacteria to grow — might be useful once again in New York City, if Mayor Bill de Blasio has his way.
On Thursday, de Blasio announced that the city has issued a request for proposals to create internet hot spots out of old pay phone booths, in a bid to bring free Wi-Fi to Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. This isn't the first time NYC has contemplated turning telephone booths into hot spots, TIME reminds us; Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a pilot project that fizzled out.
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