DNAinfo/Camille Bautista
LONG ISLAND CITY — The city is adding more than a dozen LinkNYC kiosks to streets in Long Island City and Astoria, where users can access Wi-Fi, charge their devices and make free phone calls.
The digital devices — which the city is using to replace its network of old pay phones — have already been installed along Jackson Avenue earlier this month, with 11 kiosks put up between Vernon Boulevard and 44th Drive.
All are expected to be Wi-Fi accessible in the coming weeks, a LinkNYC spokeswoman said.
More kiosks will be installed in Astoria on Broadway, between 21st and 49th streets, in the coming weeks, according to the spokeswoman. She did not provide exact locations or how many are being added.
There are already several LinkNYC devices operating in other parts of Queens, largely along Queens Boulevard and a portion of Jamaica Avenue.
Residents can use the sidewalk kiosks to connect to Wi-Fi, charge their phones or tablets, access city maps or make phone calls to any place in the U.S. free of cost.
The stations originally allowed users to browse the web on built-in tablets, though that service was disabled in September following complaints about people using the kiosks to watch porn or squatting at the locations for hours.
More than a million people used the devices during LinkNYC’s first year, according to the city.
