I never would have guessed that 311 (the non-emergency city services number in NYC) is a toll call. I tried calling the other night to report an abandoned vehicle and I did not want the call traced to me -- there's a whole story behind that too but I'm over it. So I used a payphone, and an automated voice said "Please deposit 25¢." Thinking this payphone must be wired wrong I tried another payphone. Same thing. "Please deposit 25¢." Well, I did deposit a quarter, but the call got cut off after a few minutes because I didn't have a nickel with which to continue the call. So I dialed 0, which I haven't done in years. I was thinking the operator could connect me to 311, which I still assumed is supposed to be a toll-free call. Who answers when you dial 0? It sounded like I had called a phone in the break room of a fast food restaurant, with 4 or 5 operators sitting around laughing as one of them picked up the phone. Whoever answered when I dialed 0 did not appear to even be in New York, as they had never heard of 311. But the real surprise is that, unless these payphones were wired wrong, calls to 311 non-emergency city services appear to be toll calls.