At the beginning of this year, someone somehow got some of the LinkNYC kiosks to simultaneously play a slowed-down version of the theme song for Mister Softee ice cream. The mystery of the creepy song continued until recently, when the perpetrator came forward.
Mark Thomas is a “phone phreak,” basically the phone’s version of a computer hacker. Phone phreaker used audio frequencies to get into a phone’s system and take control. He’s also a lifelong fan of traditional phone booths, so he was understandably not happy when the city started replacing them with the LinkNYC kiosks. His getting them to play the creepy music was his way of making this displeasure known.
