Payphones not obsolete for one Brooklyn man

Most people may no longer rely on the city's payphones, but for one Brooklyn man, they are his livelihood.  Karim Alomari has owned 102 payphones throughout Brooklyn and Queens since the 80s when he

News 12 Staff

Oct 31, 2014, 8:02 PM

Updated 3,652 days ago

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Most people may no longer rely on the city's payphones, but for one Brooklyn man, they are his livelihood. 
Karim Alomari has owned 102 payphones throughout Brooklyn and Queens since the 80s when he purchased them from private companies. 
However, Alomari is worried about their futures after recently receiving a letter from the city telling him they'll all be removed by the end of the year. He says some New Yorkers do rely on the phones because his are still being used. 
The city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications says it's working to create free Wi-Fi kiosks to replace payphones after their contracts expire. The kiosks will also allow users to make free 911 and 311 calls.