Have you noticed any enclosed, free-standing phone booths in New York City lately? 

Probably not, unless you've noticed one of the last four phone booths left in the city on the Upper West Side, and they won't be around for much longer. 

New York City is being ushered (willingly or not) into the 21st century with upgraded technology in the form of Wi-Fi kiosks, while simultaneously tearing down the obsolete phone booths that once were a fixture of the NYC streets. 

The last remaining phone booths, small but tangible parts of NYC history, are being removed from the streets to make way for LinkNYC to upgrade more than 7,500 phone kiosks. 

The booths, as reported by the Scouting NY, are being removed from 101st, 100th, 90th, and 66th streets. 

Scouting NY writes, "It's surreal to look out at the world around you with something you don't usually get on a busy Manhattan avenue: personal space. It's funny to think how the idea of an enclosed space to have a phone conversation now seems like an incredible luxury."

However, the West Side Rag reports that these historic booths are being dismantled to make room for new booths from CityBridge, the company responsible. 

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Unfortunately, they state that it's unclear whether or not the new booths will be the same. They state that the new booths won't have Wi-Fi. 

The New York Times has reported that the booths were salvaged from a warehouse in Canada and refurbished. These booths will have phones to make free local calls. 

A spokesperson for CityBridge states that "[these] booths haven't been refurbished for a long time and since they are the last outdoor walk-in phone booths in NY, CityBridge wanted to refresh them."

Here's to hoping that the new phone booths will stay shiny and new (as in sans graffiti and the smell of urine) for a long time. 

Check out These Amazing Renderings of This New Williamsburg Office Complex. 

[via West Side Rag] [Feature Image Courtesy ScoutingNY]