Phone Booth Claimed Two Lives

Not only are payphones antiquated, but it seems they’re also extremely dangerous. Some charge that one such booth on the northwest corner of 45th Street and 9th Avenue may have contributed to the deaths of two pedestrians. The New York Sun reports that [Community Board 4 approved a letter] yesterday requesting that the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications remove the deadly 8-by-6-footer, before it can do anymore harm.

Here’s what happened: On Feb. 23, Nina Petrow had the right of way in a marked crosswalk but was killed by an oncoming Academy bus. Back in May 2000, a double-decker New York Apple Tours bus similarly killed Randolph Walker.

Apparently the phone booth, contributed to the drivers’ reduced sight lines, thus causing the deaths. A spokesman for the DoITT said they would investigate the claims and proceed accordingly. Now if only someone could come up with some sort of portable phone to replace the booth.

Photo by [moriza on Flickr ]