Yesterday’s post documenting a half-dozen or so payphones on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in the Journal Square section of Jersey City, New Jersey, followed my earlier passing of an old phone booth at P.J. Ryan’s Squared, a bar and restaurant at the Journal Square PATH station. This old booth, found right inside the front door of the place, looks to be pretty well intact, with the closing door working like a well-oiled piece of entrapment machinery. Doors like these, once closed, can be very hard to open from inside. There is also a seat inside, making this compartment functional as a cell phone booth.
This booth contained no payphone, but there was a rotary dial device which, I am sorry to say, I did not have the presence of mind to pick up to see if it had a dial tone or to divine if it served any purpose, be it practical or ironic. Next time I’m in Journal Square, which should be next week, I’ll look for it again.
Other highlights at P.J. Ryan’s Squared include some amusing bronze-looking plaques throughout the place, including this one above a men’s urinal:
I am not a fan of sports bars but PJ Ryan’s Squared looks like it might be a clever one. See you soon, PJ Ryan’s!