[NYguy]

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2014...wn-photo-kiosk

Take a Selfie With 1 World Trade Center at Downtown Photo Kiosk





By Irene Plagianos
December 18, 2014

Forget the selfie stick. A new Lower Manhattan kiosk lets you snap a selfie with a perfect view of One World Trade Center soaring behind you, for free.

The kiosk, launched Thursday at Albany Plaza at the corner of Greenwich and Albany streets, lets visitors take photos, play around with filters and email, tweet or Facebook the image.

The Downtown Alliance, a Lower Manhattan business improvement district, sponsored the bright red selfie station.

“We used to send postcards, but now we send selfies,” said Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin, after snapping her own selfie. “This is fun, and a first-of-a-kind way for visitors to share their experiences.”

Alliance officials said they had the idea for the kiosk after watching tourists frequently struggle to capture a selfie with the 1,776-foot tower, a huge Lower Manhattan attraction.

The kiosk, which cost $7,000, is the first selfie kiosk anywhere, according to the Alliance. The Alliance developed the machine with two tech companies, Zivelo and National Media Brands.

On Thursday, a young group of tourists smiled wide at the kiosk, happy that they’d found it. The three friends, from Canada and Rhode Island, had just been having a hard time striking the right selfie pose with the tower.

"This is so cool," said Shenty Hernandez, 22. "It looks great — we could not have gotten this to look as good by ourselves."

Use of the kiosk is free, but if you snap a photo the picture becomes co-owned by the Alliance, and may end up on its social media. Visitors have to agree to let the Alliance to use the image before they can send out the selfie themselves.

Lappin said if the booth proves popular, the Alliance made add others in Lower Manhattan.