Then and Now: A Getty Station Payphone

I was reminded last week of a project that I have meant to pursue for some time: Then and Now: Payphones of New York. This will, simply, be a series of photos I took over the last 12 or 13 years of public phones in New York with follow-up photos of what those phones look like today — if they even exist. I have always been charmed by the “then and now” conceit which puts historic photos next to their modern-day doppelgänger.

I will begin with this payphone that used to stand near a Getty Station in Astoria, New York, on 34th Avenue near 31st Street. I used this payphone many times but I do not recall when it was removed. It has been gone for years. I think this picture was taken in 1998:

Today the only proof that this payphone existed is in the form of a squarish metal frame where the base of the payphone used to be.

If you look for them you can see these metal frames on virtually any city sidewalk. Some of these frames are more obvious than others, like this metal pedestal with phone wires that I spotted in May, 2004. The remains of this Getty Station payphone are more likely to go unnoticed.