In most U.S. cities spotting a payphone is often likened to seeing the mythical unicorn. Most larger cities have virtually zero public telephones but New York, where thousands of payphones stand along city sidewalks and transit hubs, is an exception. Many New Yorkers, it seems, are blind to the advertising-cloaked payphone enclosures that dot city streets – or at least blind to the fact that payphones are hiding within these enclosures.

Payphones have become rather homogeneous in New York, as the independent payphone service providers which once numbered over a hundred have all gone out of business. Thus the unicorn analogy came to mind when I spotted this unusual payphone in Brooklyn a few weeks ago. As surprised as I was to spot this thing I did a double take when I picked up the handset and heard a dial tone. I couldn’t believe my ear. At first this appeared to be one of the countless abandoned payphones in this town that linger in place simply because nobody cares enough to get rid of them. This phone had a dial tone and could therefore be expected to work, though I had bad luck in my attempt to capture surrounding sounds through this device.

Standalone outdoor clamshell payphones like this still exist but most are owned by Citybridge LLC, the consortium of tech and advertising companies awarded a monopoly franchise by the city. A number of these style payphones owned by Telebeam can also still be found, presumably pending litigation between that company and New York City over the legality of granting Citybridge the monopoly. PTS (Pacific Telemanagement Services) also owns a relatively small number of outdoor payphones, while G-Tel owns and operates hundreds of payphones at transit hubs and airports. This payphone is owned by none of the above-mentioned companies.

Citybridge intends to replace the city’s outdoor payphones (and then some) with devices called Links. The first installations of these Wi-Fi and multipurpose stations appeared in December.

A payphone like this, however, would not be targeted for replacement by a Link. It is located on private property, though it is unclear if this is with the knowledge and approval of the business owner. Most payphones located on private property in New York are owned by PTS, which coordinates with business owners to make their phones available. This phone has no credible indication of who owns it.

What Is a Rogue Payphone?

A rogue payphone is one which is not licensed by the city of New York and which has no information identifying what company or individual is responsible for it. Calls made through these unregulated phones are made with a greater risk of being wiretapped or otherwise compromised.

The placard claims calls are carried by MetTel, but that company folded long ago. MetTel’s branded payphones still litter gas stations and semi-abandoned structures all over town.

If the MetTel name didn’t indicate this was a rogue payphone then the name of another defunct company at the bottom would: Telelink Communications formerly provided payphone service to New York and New Jersey but that company appears to be gone, too.

So who is responsible for this payphone? Who knows? All I can say is that the number for this phone, according to caller ID, is 718-623-3318, a number which is not found in the Payphone Project’s archive of past payphone locations. I would be careful using a phone like this for much of anything, especially calls which are paid for using credit cards. You just do not know who might be listening in on a phone like this. The sticker inviting you to place collect calls through this phone is also best ignored. Rates for collect calls made from phones which do not explicitly display pricing information would likely result in extremely high charges.

I was hoping to get recordings of ambient street noises through this phone, but a call to Skype voicemail returned nothing more than 9 minutes of a dull humming noise.

I would call 311 to demand a refund but as far as they are concerned this payphone does not even exist! Actually I do not think that this call and the humming noise is a sufficient test to see if the phone would work as expected if I called a person and talked to them. I have amplified the sound of the humming for comedic effect. It was not really this loud, so the phone could well function as a working device.

I am not going to say where I spotted this phone, as I do not want to get anyone (myself included) in any kind of weirdness or trouble.