3 ms·

The Last Public Payphone Kiosk on the Streets of New York

16 points by ecliptik 4y ago

pvg 4y ago
thread from May 2022, 252 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31512496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31512496
woodruffw 4y ago
Maybe they're not technically public, but there's at least one left at 100th and West End[1]. That photo is from August 2021, but I believe it's still there. [1]: https://goo.gl/maps/1rfTFRdjS6Anxz6L6 https://goo.gl/maps/1rfTFRdjS6Anxz6L6
- blatherard 4y ago
  Yeah, there are booths on West End and 90th, 100th and 101st that I pass by on a regular basis (I live in the neighborhood). There's also one on 66th, I think, but I can't say I've personally been by it anytime recently. Added: Here's a recent article about them https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/05/24/rumors-of-the-phone-booths-demise-are-wrong-by-four-all-on-the-uws https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/05/24/rumors-of-the-phone-b...
Animats 4y ago
Aw, they put it in a case where it can't be touched, rather than hooking it up to a phone line and letting people make calls. Come on. It's not like they're fragile. When I used to do steampunk conventions, we had a telegraph office, with working teletype machines and messengers. We also had an old "French style" dial phone (actually a replica from the 1970s) wired up for calls. This was a hit with small kids who had never seen such a thing. "It's so heavy" said one little girl who lifted the handset.
- tomjen3 4y ago
  Where would one go to attend a steampunk convention? I don't really want to admit how much money I would be willing to spend to see a working telegraph office, let alone one with teletype machines and messengers.
  - Animats 4y ago
    Steampunk is kind of over. But here's the video of our telegraph office, from eight years ago.[1] We ran that at about eight conventions. Here's a list of the remaining known steampunk conventions.[2] [1] https://vimeo.com/124065314 https://vimeo.com/124065314 [2] https://steampunkcons.com/calendar/ https://steampunkcons.com/calendar/
abeppu 4y ago
> https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-hurricane-sandy-forced-nyc-to-reconnect-with-pay-phones-513830.html https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-hurricane-sandy-forced-n... This was a decade ago! I wonder if cell service (and power infrastructure) is significantly more durable now than then? Or in the next crisis of that sort, will there be no way to call out? At one point after Sandy, when lower Manhattan was still dark, I could stand in a spot by the East River and send text messages using what I think was a signal from Brooklyn -- voice and data were not successful.
blowski 4y ago
In the UK, the iconic red phone boxes are now used as public libraries, defibrillator stations, and general photo backgrounds for tourists. A few people even bought one for their back garden.

16 points by ecliptik 4y ago

pvg 4y ago

thread from May 2022, 252 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31512496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31512496

woodruffw 4y ago

Maybe they're not technically public, but there's at least one left at 100th and West End[1]. That photo is from August 2021, but I believe it's still there. [1]: https://goo.gl/maps/1rfTFRdjS6Anxz6L6 https://goo.gl/maps/1rfTFRdjS6Anxz6L6

blatherard 4y ago
Yeah, there are booths on West End and 90th, 100th and 101st that I pass by on a regular basis (I live in the neighborhood). There's also one on 66th, I think, but I can't say I've personally been by it anytime recently. Added: Here's a recent article about them https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/05/24/rumors-of-the-phone-booths-demise-are-wrong-by-four-all-on-the-uws https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/05/24/rumors-of-the-phone-b...

Animats 4y ago

Aw, they put it in a case where it can't be touched, rather than hooking it up to a phone line and letting people make calls. Come on. It's not like they're fragile. When I used to do steampunk conventions, we had a telegraph office, with working teletype machines and messengers. We also had an old "French style" dial phone (actually a replica from the 1970s) wired up for calls. This was a hit with small kids who had never seen such a thing. "It's so heavy" said one little girl who lifted the handset.

tomjen3 4y ago
Where would one go to attend a steampunk convention? I don't really want to admit how much money I would be willing to spend to see a working telegraph office, let alone one with teletype machines and messengers.
- Animats 4y ago
  Steampunk is kind of over. But here's the video of our telegraph office, from eight years ago.[1] We ran that at about eight conventions. Here's a list of the remaining known steampunk conventions.[2] [1] https://vimeo.com/124065314 https://vimeo.com/124065314 [2] https://steampunkcons.com/calendar/ https://steampunkcons.com/calendar/

abeppu 4y ago

> https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-hurricane-sandy-forced-nyc-to-reconnect-with-pay-phones-513830.html https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-hurricane-sandy-forced-n... This was a decade ago! I wonder if cell service (and power infrastructure) is significantly more durable now than then? Or in the next crisis of that sort, will there be no way to call out? At one point after Sandy, when lower Manhattan was still dark, I could stand in a spot by the East River and send text messages using what I think was a signal from Brooklyn -- voice and data were not successful.

blowski 4y ago

In the UK, the iconic red phone boxes are now used as public libraries, defibrillator stations, and general photo backgrounds for tourists. A few people even bought one for their back garden.