This is my favorite type of payphone: On the curb. Almost on the street. In traffic. When I talk into a payphone like this my voice can be heard by passengers in the Manhattan-bound vehicles. I hear their voices, too.
This public pay telephone is public in more ways than you might think. Using this phone is a public act. People see you, study you, squint at you. They try to imagine why you use a pay phone when far more expensive and contractually-bound communication alternatives abound. They pass judgment. They blog you. They text their significant others and Tweet strangers: “Just saw someone using a payphone! WOW! What century is this?”