Dead Payphone at 2508 E. Linden Avenue in Linden, NJ
This abandoned phone, once owned by Path Enterprises, Inc., was an unexpected find on a stretch of East Linden Avenue between Linden and Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Trumpet Music Heard Through the Broadway/Lafayette Subway Station Payphone
I canvassed the Broadway/Lafayette BDFM and Bleecker Street 6 subway stations for payphones. This is what I saw. This is what I heard.
212-243-9133. 14th Street/8th Avenue Subway Station.
I've used this payphone a number of times in attempts to record nearby subway musicians, rarely if ever with any luck.
My LinkNYC/Aunt Bertha FOIL Request Was Foiled
Intersection boasts of its WiFi usage but claims to have no records for usage of the Aunt Bertha portal on its LinkNYC kiosks.
No Payphones at Hudson Yards. Something Weird With Their “Smart City” Sensors, Though?
No payphones for you at the new Hudson Yards. But why did my camera not work when I tried to take a picture of one of the facility's kiosks? Smart City beacons/sensors run amok?
Visible.com’s Payphone Math Does Not Add Up
A new phone company's ad campaign includes a shoutout to payphone users. But does their math add up? I don't think so.
A Curious 1970s New York City Phone Booth Photo
Should I recognize the dude in this picture? It appears to be the work of a professional photographer, Thomas J. Rodriguez. So who's the guy in the phone booth? And why is the print a mirror image?
The Phone Booths at Peter McManus Café
I checked in on the phone booths at Peter McManus Café on 7th Avenue. The booths looked beautiful but neither phone worked.
I Made a Font Using Only Letters and Numbers From a Payphone Keypad
The font used on this set of touchtone buttons is nothing special in and of itself. But I felt the rugged, weathered quality of these little buttons, punched poked and pounded for however many years, made them worth singling out.
LinkNYC: I Still Got Game On These Stupid Things
You cannot actually play DOOM on a LinkNYC kiosk. But I got to an emulator and watched as the poor little tablet device struggled to play back the opening animation.
*81: This is µ-Law, a Fun Payphone Call For Only a Nickel
A nickel and an incremental hunch led me to what might be the most entertainment you can get in New York for a nickel.
LinkNYC’s Wrinkle In Time
LinkNYC kiosks stepped back in time yesterday, showing headlines and emergency alerts from late December of last year. Seriously, how hard is it to get something like this right?
I Needed a Payphone
A few weeks ago I needed a pay phone. Really, I did. I had to call somebody without all of Queens Boulevard hearing both sides of the conversation.
LinkNYC’s News You Can’t Use
What to make of the AP's decapitated headlines showing up on LinkNYC's screens? Not much of any real use.
What Was TELVAST?
I never heard of TELVAST until its name surfaced on a Queens Boulevard payphone. I found no trace of the company's existence in online or offline resources. Putting it up for grabs here in case anyone knows anything about the company or the word itself.
Four Star Diner in Union City: Abandoned Verizon Payphone
My visit to the Four Star Diner started with an abandoned Verizon payphone. It ended with me asking if I had truly experienced "the delicious 'EAT'" during my visit.
Baba Laknath Laundromat Payphone in Elmhurst
This abandoned phone at an Elmhurst laundromat offered no clue as to its previous owner.
Another One Down, Maybe Three
One more payphone in my area disappeared with no LinkNYC replacement. A similar fate seems to have befallen a pair of phones on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Why LinkNYC Installations Stopped Last Year, and Other Sexy Topics
It turns out CityBridge had good reason to pause its breakneck pace of installing LinkNYC kiosks last year. But what to make of the fact that the City has the right to levy tens of thousands of dollars in penalties against the franchise?
Carousel Payphone
Video of a dead payphone next to the Carousel at Central Park. Ludicrous, right?
TIL: I Am a Culture Jammer
I was honored to accept an invitation from Joey Skaggs to guest post on his blog, "Art of the Prank". In response I sent a succinct account of how my LinkNYC/Mr. Softee social media engineering project bewildered millions.
CityBridge Reports Phone Call Feature Not Working on 28% of LinkNYC Kiosks
CityBridge's hourly report on the functional status of its kiosks needs a lot of work. No way is today's report on the machines' phone calling status accurate.
Abandoned Verizon Paypone at Pasiones Sports Bar in Woodside
An abandoned Verizon payphone at a Woodside bar illustrates what a sorry job the telco giant did in cleaning up after itself upon exiting the business. Countless quantities of Verizon's dead payphones lurk in places like Pasiones Bar.
LinkNYC: Replacing Payphones With… Nothing?
It looks like CityBridge now removes payphones and moves on, replacing them not with the Smart City LinkNYC kiosks but with empty squares of pavement. Is it asking too much for CityBridge to post a heads up announcement informing the public that a payphone they know will soon go away?
Grand Central Terminal: Payphones Gone
Most of Grand Central Terminal's payphones were routed last year. Take a tour of how they looked, pick up some payphone trivia that might be new to you, and learn where you can find the last surviving payphones at Grand Central.
No-Name Payphone at a No-Name Laundromat
I found an abandoned "Smart" pay telephone hiding inside a laundromat on Corona Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens.
Payphone at the Check Cashing Place
It's an abandoned payphone at an abandoned check-cashing center at non-abandoned Queensboro Plaza.
Reflection of Two Working Payphones in a Non-Working LinkNYC Tablet Screen
Non-working LinkNYC kiosk tablets make for interesting reflective surfaces as the city passes by.