There Are No More Useless Payphones in Hudson! Hurrah?

As of this past Thursday, all 8 of Hudson's public payphones (or what remained of them) had been removed by the California company that bought all of Verizon's payphones more than ten years ago.

What remains on our sidewalks, in some cases, are heavy duty metal protective barriers which are DPW's responsibility to remove.  Let's see how long that takes.  There is no need for them anymore, they do not add any charm or help to downtown, and there is no need for them to sit around ignored for months or years.  Like the phones, they are sidewalk clutter, even getting in the way of passengers and open doors of parked cars. 

To recap the story of how the phones were finally removed:  Robert Perry, our DPW Superintendent, claimed at a council meeting years ago that it was "impossible" to figure out who owned the phones.  DPW would not touch them, and there was nothing he, nor anyone else at City Hall, could do about them.  Get used to the phones. End of story.   I didn't buy it.

In late November of last year, still incredulous of Perry's claims about the phones' ownership, I called Verizon's main customer service 800 number.  I spoke with a friendly and helpful customer service representative who, after a 10-minute hold, told me that Verizon had sold all their phones to a company by the name of PTS Providers.  I was given PTS's phone number.

Within a week I received a call from John Connelly, PTS's east coast regional manager.  After I requested that Hudson's payphones be removed, John assured me that it would happen "sometime soon by our guy from Connecticut."  He told me that prior to my efforts no one from Hudson had ever contacted him or PTS.  It's possible that Robert Perry never even tried to contact Verizon, even though each phone had the Verizon logo somewhere on them, sometimes in multiple spots.

When I told one of the PTS workers removing the phones last week the story of how our DPW Superintendent claimed that it was impossible to figure out who owned the payphones, he shook his head and said "That's ridiculous.  It's not that difficult."

I was a bit skeptical that a company based in California that I had never heard of would actually follow through with their promise, but they did. 

I must say that I will especially miss the phone in front of the Chamber of Commerce building on Front Street ("Welcome to Hudson!") with the dangling cable and exposed wires for years.  So welcoming and classy!  Had no one there ever thought of calling Verizon to inquire about the useless and ugly payphone with the frayed wires in front?

More welcoming?

I have one of the payphones, or at least the important part of it (front, no back), with a clean handset and cable.  If you are interested in it, graffiti and all, it will cost you just $150 for a piece of Hudson history that will outlast you if properly cared for.  It would look great hanging on a wall.  These things were built to last.  They lasted a little too long on our sidewalks.   If interested, contact me at huston.bill@gmail.com