If the NYC government decided to add freestanding billboards, 4 feet wide, to the sidewalks all around the city, so they could make more money, folks would be in an uproar. And yet, that's essentially what payphones are in this city now, writes the NYTimes.

The phone kiosks generate $62 million in advertising revenue annually — and last year the city got $13.7 million of the take, triple what it pulled in from calls.

Over all, the number of pay phones in New York is falling, as it is throughout the country. But in a phenomenon unique to New York, the phones are more valuable than ever, thanks to the intense competition among advertisers for attention in a city of eight million.