A Payphone Prophet Speaks, or Rather Writes… erm… VANDALIZES.

I spotted this mass of scrawl on the side of a group of three payphones at Rockefeller Center. Looks authoritative, right? “No cure till 2060”, “3 Billion People Will Die”, “Americas finances are dead till 2040”, and “Bio Chemical attack Coming to americans” are some highlights from this gloomy-doomy series of  Covid-19 related prophecies.

I don’t know if the phones work. They smelled so badly of urine did not even want to get near them, much less pick up a handset to check for dial tone. This payphone enclosure is owned by CityBridge, which enjoys a monopoly franchise on payphones located on city sidewalks.

These phones may or may not have worked but Rockefeller Center is, however, where one of the most reliable and long-lasting Midtown Manhattan payphones can still be found. It’s owned by PTS, the nation’s largest payphone service provider, and can be found near the Starbucks on the 6th Avenue end of the Concourse. It is the last vestige of the Rockefeller Center Communications Portal I looked at last week, and just a great place to make a phone call.