Duane Reade is running a New Yorker style caption contest. This image is the latest installment. I’m not good at these things… Maybe something about the operator talking dirty? Anyone got anything better? You can submit yours on Facebook.
Is the guy on the the left supposed to be Obama? The guy on the right looks like Ira, from my payphone tribute video.
18 
The idea of a pay phone wall decal seems a little absurd to me. It’s even more absurd when I try to imagine what I would’ve thought of this during a time when I actually used pay phones.
When I had a pager in 1998 or thereabouts, I knew the location of every pay phone in NYC from 72nd Street to Chinatown. But so many of them didn’t work.
Having a fake one on my wall would’ve seemed a cruel joke. This one doesn’t even bother to pretend it’s going to take your quarter. It’s just a wall.
Good thing I have a cell.
Phone Home Vinyl Wall Decal by CityZenDesign
8 
Jesus (my husband) has been at the Kennedy Space Center this week awaiting the shuttle launch. It keeps getting delayed, so he’s taken on another mission: photographing Nasa’s pay phones for Obsolete.
This one is an ersatz Mercury capsule. Jesus says tells me that the real capsules are actually not a lot bigger than a telephone booth —the space inside was about the same.
3 
I just came upon this on Flickr. It’s by Digit@l Exposure II. Really brilliant HDR shot!
Says Digit@l Exposure:
“There actually was a notice in this phone box saying that records showed it hasn’t been used for a long time and that, unless somebody would object, the box would be removed soon.”
(via Digit@l Exposure II)
6 
Spotted this guy on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 17th Street. He would’ve been a good guy to include on the 3rd Avenue pay phone tour!
1 
THE OBSOLETE PAY PHONE PROJECT: Volume X, Is. 4
I saw this beautified pay phone last night in the East Village.
THE OBSOLETE PAY PHONE PROJECT: Volume X, Is. 2
Times Square subway station, Tuesday night.
The grass is always greener on the other receiver.
8 
Continuing on today’s airplane theme: I saw this on Friday in LaGuardia Airport. I’ve always said that LaGuardia feels fifteen to twenty years behind every other airport. And, well, fifteen to twenty years ago I recall that anything that was supposed to look cutting-edge had the number “2000” emblazoned on it.
Case in point.
THE OBSOLETE PAY PHONE PROJECT: Vol. VII, Is. 2
Man confuses pay phone with vertical bench press machine. A common mistake.
THE OBSOLETE PAY PHONE PROJECT: Vol. VII, Is. 1
Which will destroy pay phones first: cell phones or cinder blocks?
