Cemetery Payphone, R.I.P.
For years this payphone was, like everything around it, dead.
The Last Payphone at Trump Tower
Someone should change these signs at the Trump Tower: There are no longer pay telephones (plural) at this building. As of July, 2011, there is (as far as I can tell) only one pay telephone at the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. It is in the basement (the Garden Level) at the end…
Blackout Payphone. Going, going…
The days of the Blackout Payphone appear to be nearing an end, if they are not finished already. Its dial tone is gone, and even if it worked accessibility would be limited since the phone is surrounded by materials of construction-destruction. This payphone’s number, RAvenswood 9-9832 (or 718-729-9832 in modern parlance), returns only a busy…
Payphone Gone
Many a time these days an individual in search of a payphone is fooled by the meaningless beacon of the “Phone” sign. Signs like this used to mean that one could expect to find a public phone nearby. Today, useless signs like this typically mean nothing except that a payphone was present here, sometimes many…
Times Square Webcam Payphones Revisited
The payphones at Broadway and 46th Street in New York City's Times Square seem to be objects of particular fascination for many people. This is because Earthcam points a live webcam at them, inspiring some to imagine that it might be possible to call these phones and watch live as some random person answers.
Bell Atlantic Signage
The Payphone Project spotted a phantom Bell Atlantic sign, lurking high over the garage door of an auto body shop.
Northern Boulevard: Payphone Gone
Nothing remains of this payphone, photographed in March, 2004. Nothing, that is, save for the metal spikes in the sidewalk, those slivers of detritus which mark the spots where countless payphones used to stand on city sidewalks and walkways. The above photo was originally posted to my New York City Payphones Gallery. I do not…
Queens Plaza/41st Avenue, Payphone Gone
This payphone, once located near the Blackout Payphone, is gone, as are a number of other objects which once lined this curbside at 2927 41st Avenue at Queens Plaza. Plaza Video, a smut shop seen in the background, has been replaced a couple of times since this picture was taken in November, 2006. At present…
A 5th Avenue Subway Payphone
This horribly blurry and wobbly picture shows a payphone at the 5th Avenue subway stop in May, 2000. For obvious reasons I never posted this picture, but upon seeing it now I think it makes sense to use it as part of this Payphones Then and Now series, showing payphone locations around New York as…
Laurel Hill Boulevard Payphone Gone
I thought this was a strange location for a payphone. Located in the shadow of the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, I-278) this Verizon payphone stood outside of a tombstone manufacturer on Laurel Hill Boulevard near 48th Street as recently as March, 2010, when I got these two pictures. The payphone was near a Q39 bus stop,…
Mexicano Grocery, Payphone Gone
In March, 2001, a payphone stood outside the Mexicano Grocery Store: Today the payphone is not the only thing gone from the northwest corner of 21st Street and 31st Road in Long Island City, Queens. The entire building containing the Mexicano Grocery Store was obliterated, clearing the way for a vacant lot now fenced off…
Metro Motel Payphone, Before and After
The payphone across from the Metro Motel in Woodside, Queens, is gone gone gone, leaving but 6 metal spikes in the sidewalk at the corner of Queens Boulevard and 73rd Street. Being located near a motel which caters to travelers and transients I expected this payphone to still be here. I was wrong. This picture,…
Emily’s Coffee Shop, Payphone Gone
Emily’s Coffee Shop, at 31-06 21st Street in Long Island City, is gone. So, too, is the payphone that used to stand outside. This photo is from March, 2001: Emily’s has been replaced by Great Pizza & Fried Chicken Inc. The only trace of the payphone that used to stand at your service is the…
Payphone Gone: Long Island City
This picture from August, 2000, shows a Bell Atlantic payphone in Long Island City, outside the 2000 Management Inc. garage. The space formerly occupied by 2000 Management Inc. is now home to Queens Auto Center. Ten years later the Bell Atlantic payphone which formerly hung on the wall outside the garage is gone. Evidence of…
Payphone Gone: 37th Avenue @ 22nd Street, Queens
Only the mount pedestal remains of a payphone that once stood at 37th Avenue and 22nd Street in Long Island City. This picture is from August, 2000. This picture, taken from just about the exact same spot, is from May 22, 2010.
47th Street Payphone, 11 Years Later
This picture from early 1999 shows a man standing next to a payphone while talking on a cell phone as his friend waits for him. Scenes like this used to annoy me. Cell phone boors were a new irritant in 1999, and it seemed particularly pretentious to use a cell while standing right next to…
Steinway Street, Payphone Gone
This picture is from March, 2000. The payphone in this photo formerly stood outside of Unlimited Lingerie on Steinway Street in Astoria. Today the payphone is gone. Unlimited Lingerie remains. All that is left of the phone are these metal pipes which helped secure the payphone to the ground.
Broadway and 50th Street
This set of four payphones and the individuals using them no longer stand at the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. This picture is from April, 2001. The pictures at the end of this story, showing the same spot where these payphones used to be, are from September, 2009. I remember this picture…
Midtown Payphone Survivors, Ten Years Later
Continuing my series of Payphones in New York City Then and Now, I present a set of payphone survivors in Midtown Manhattan. There are three payphones here, as seen first in May, 2000, and again in May, 2010. In this case it seems more accurate to say that the payphone locations, not the payphones themselves,…
Ravenswood Payphone, 10 Years Later
Where are the payphones in New York City? Try the housing projects. Housing projects have lots of payphones, and most of them actually work. If you do not live in a projects, and if you ever need a payphone, then your nearest housing projects is a place to keep in mind should you find yourself…
An Astoria Payphone, Ten Years Later
Continuing my lightly-updated series of “Then and Now” pictures of payphones in New York City, I spent the last few days tracking down payphones which I photographed ten years ago in this very month of May, Y2K. Ten years later I find that many of the payphones are gone, but a surprising number survive. Many…
Are There Any Payphones Around Gantry Park?
A lot has changed around Hunters Point South in Long Island City. Most of the payphones are gone. Some survive, but not many. I staked out a location which had a payphone in May, 2004. Not surprisingly that payphone is gone. In its wake is an empty street corner, with ghostly echoes of the payphone’s…
New Jersey Turnpike Phone Booths
This is a really cool then-and-now sequence of pictures showing a set of phone booths on the New Jersey Turnpike. These two pictures show how the booths look today, and how they looked about 11 years ago.
A Subway Payphone, 9½ Years Later
This before-and-after sequence spans 9½ years, and shows a payphone at the 36th Avenue/Washington Avenue subway station in Astoria. The first picture is from June, 2000. The second picture from January, 2010, shows a remarkably similar scene. The payphone itself seems to be the same. The slanted surface under the phone set (intended for note-taking,…
Winter Garden Payphones
Of the three payphones seen in these photos from August 19, 2000 two survive today but only one still works. These payphones were in the lobby of the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway. Two payphones still hang from the lobby wall, but only one still functions. It appears to accept incoming calls, but only if…
Payphones at Krash, Now Called Riviera
This picture from March, 2000, shows two payphones outside the Krash Dance Club in Astoria. Krash was a popular gay bar and night club which closed some time ago, later becoming a fully nude bar called Riviera. A lot of folks in Astoria do not seem to realize that Riviera is a nude club, assuming…
Vestiges of Payphone Brands Past
Last year at about this time I commented on a New York Times blog entry that called out a “Phantom Bell Atlantic Phone Booth” on the Brooklyn Heights esplanade. I remembered this today when I spotted a payphone bearing vestiges of the Bell Atlantic brand — a brand which should have disappeared by 2002: I…
Telebeam: Off the Hook and Off the Grid
Telebeam payphones are disappearing from the sidewalks of New York at a rapid clip. In recent days this Telebeam payphone in midtown went from off the hook to off the grid. I spotted this dangling payphone receiver a few months ago (and posted it to my New York City Payphones section), and this week saw…