I don’t remember when I first spotted this lonely old phone booth on Yankee Pier. The pier structure stands in Buttermilk Channel off the east side of Governors Island. In the past there had been at least one other and possibly a third phone booth on this pier. Renovation of the pier led to one or both of them being discarded. This is, for whatever the distinction might be worth, probably the most beautifully located phone booth in New York City. I wrote something of an elegy for this phone booth back in 2012.

Last I heard (7 or 8 months ago) this lone booth was still present, with its non-working phone still inside. I cannot be certain, however, that my source on this was reliable. One way to know for sure, of course, is to revisit the island after May 1, when the public is allowed in again.

The phone inside is not coin-operated. Charge-a-Call devices only accept payment by credit or calling card.  The booth was, last time I saw it, in a “restricted area“, not that anyone would have legitimate reason to actually access the thing. It has probably been out of service since 1999, when the pier was removed from active use by the Coast Guard.

This style of booth, with its doorless entry and what I guess you’d call a teal color about it, seems to have been more popular than I realized. I spotted plenty of this type of booth in Florida, including booths outside the Sahara Motel in Daytona Beach, and at the Swan Motel in Tampa. In the past weeks, since the CBS Sunday Morning segment aired, I’ve received photos of similar looking booths in Wrangell, Alaska, and Santa Fé, Panama.