NYC DOT kept disconnected crosswalk buttons as placebos

New York City installed pedestrian push-buttons at crosswalks starting in the 1960s, when traffic was lighter and a major street's signal would stay green by default until a pedestrian pressed a button to request a walk phase — a genuinely functional control at the time.

By the early 2000s the city had quietly deactivated the large majority of its buttons without public announcement, leaving them mounted at crosswalks, still pressable, giving no indication they no longer did anything — a fact city transportation officials confirmed only when asked directly, rather than one the city had proactively disclosed.

Left disconnected buttons as placebos: pressing them still gives pedestrians an illusion of control that makes them wait patiently, preserving the benefit at zero cost.

Pedestrians who press a button feel they've influenced the signal, increasing patience.

The placebo effect works regardless of actual function, so disconnected buttons still deliver value.

Removing buttons would cost over a million dollars and eliminate the behavioral benefit.

Leaving them in place is cheaper and preserves the calming effect, making it the optimal choice.

When a control becomes obsolete, consider keeping it as a placebo if it still shapes user behavior, rather than paying to remove it.

By the mid-2010s only around 100 of the roughly 1,000 remaining buttons citywide were still estimated to be functional, with the rest left permanently in place; the city avoided the multi-million-dollar removal cost while the placebo buttons continued to serve their behavioral function of keeping pedestrians focused on the crosswalk while they waited, regardless of whether a press changed the signal.