Payphones Past

Categories: Daily Payphone

A Bronx and Marble Hill Payphone Stramble [Video]

Starts at the Fordham Road subway, where one of the phones I looked at a couple of years ago remains, succumbing to forces of entropy and telephonic decay.

The real destination was a random payphone clamshell I spotted on Cyclomedia, the underrated and basically unknown alternative to Streetview for New York City.

From there it’s on to Upper Manhattan, for a pass at the building with my 4th apartment in Manhattan.

A look at the MTA’s Help Points, which directly replaced payphones throughout the system. I’d neglected to give credit to the MTA for this. They did rip out virtually all the payphones but at least had the presence of mind to install communication devices for emergency use. I’ve even seen people use these things.

I only expected one phone on Exterior Street but canvasing the Marble Hill Houses turned up one other relic. From there it was back to the Bronx, where I intended to see if the Talk To Me Phone on Fordham Road is still alive. Change of plans sent me chasing the ghost of a payphone on the Grand Concourse.

the payphone project

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