Story highlights It's the brainchild of Afghan-American artist Aman Mojadidi

It's meant to provide a visitor with a personal connection with an immigrant

(CNN) In an era of ubiquitous smartphones, three new telephone booths in New York City's Times Square are a curious draw for the throngs of people who pass by.

They stop for a double take. They step inside the analog boxes to snap digital selfies.

But then the phones start ringing. And when they pick up the receiver to answer, that's when the oddity gives way to awe.

"I came out in 1986 due to the economy in Ireland," the voice at the other end says sometimes. "My reason for coming was, you know, work wasn't there. I needed to work, my parents had just died."

"We lived in Belarus and we went through Chernobyl catastrophe," another voice on the line may recount on another call.

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