Payphones Past

NYC Nostalgia: 1980s Payphone Caller

From the NYC Nostalgia blog, one of my favorite Tumblr sites, comes this classy photo of a woman talking on a payphone as a man walking past adjusts his pants in a way that invites a lot of questions.

NYC Nostalgia: 1980s Payphone User

I have less trouble with the man’s pants (or what the woman is doing with her right hand, for that matter) than with the subway station sign which the woman partly obscures. It looks like it should say “QUEENSBORO AVE” or maybe “QUEENSBOROUGH AVE”. Either spelling would create a street name I do not remember ever existing in New York. I am sure it is no great mystery but it’s a bit curious. A quick pass through NYCSubway.org’s historical subway maps turns up nothing closer than Queensboro Plaza, but this photo does not appear to be from that area.

the payphone project

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