Comments on: Gallery: The Last “Superman” Phone Booths In NYC

By: jason show

jason show — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:44:10 +0000

Great set of pictures but what a bummer.
If there was ever a time that we need Superman, this is it!
But how will he change from Clark Kent into Superman if there are not more phone booths? Bring back the phone booths!

Great post. Jason Show

By: Quikboy

Quikboy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:40:32 +0000

They need to upgrade phone booths. The reason why many Americans have given them up, was because of cruddy maintenance and lousy service.

We need to put phone booths in busy pedestrian areas (so a vandal will less likely target it), upgrade the service (maybe VOIP calls or Internet access?) and some vents for it to remain cool inside.

By: (Pics) Last of the Phone Booths - PSFK

(Pics) Last of the Phone Booths - PSFK — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:42:14 +0000

[...] Infrastructurist has compiled a fantastic gallery of some of the last remaining full-size phone booths in New York City. Once a standard feature of any urban landscape, these days, any kind of phone booth seems like an anachronism. With the advent of ubiquitous mobile phone use these little phone-call stations are next to obsolete, but hopefully some kind of new purpose can be found for these structures. [...]

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:22:15 +0000

Isn’t there any way to repurpose old phone booths? I mean, for things other than ingesting drugs or receiving blow jobs. Everything else old seems to be repurposed nowadays…the old “L” in New York, old mills on the East Coast, etc.

By: Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:20:11 +0000

Interesting that you reference 1977, the year before the Christopher Reeve “Superman” movie. There was a “sign of the times” moment in that film, where Clark Kent senses trouble brewing and looks for a phone booth. He strikes purposefully towards a common-in-78 style booth, basically like what we have now, no walls, no door, only a bubble around the phone box itself. He does a quick double-take and we all laugh realizing that times have indeed changed since the Golden Age of Comics and that iconic bit of street furniture is no longer.

And that was 30 years ago!

By: Linkpile

Linkpile — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:02:14 +0000

[...] The Last “Superman” Phone Booths In NYC » INFRASTRUCTURIS: Gallery, in Infrastructurist. [...]

By: i am the weather » » there are 4 phone booths in NYC, this is one of them

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:51:51 +0000

[...] Infrastructurist points out several more in NYC, including one at 42nd and 5th as well as a lone phone booth on a [...]

By: Dottie

Dottie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:16:55 +0000

Interesting pictures. I was searching desperately for a phone booth around my building in Chicago yesterday, to no avail. I had to return a call on my cell about a job interview and needed a quiet area where I was not in danger of a co-worker or boss overhearing me!

By: Emmett

Emmett — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:40:05 +0000

Yea Matt & Stacey! I love the one on the Pier

By: whatthefuckiswrongwithyoupeople.org » For 25¢, You Too Can Have Your Own Private NYC Room

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:54:43 +0000

[...] The last “Superman” phones in NYC [...]

By: Tom Blim

Tom Blim — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:54:19 +0000

With only a handful left in NYC, I fear that bookies no longer have a safe space to “work.”

By: kathy

kathy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:16:45 +0000

I personally have searched for a telephone booth. Some of us don’t have cell phones. Keep the telephone booths.

By: Bob Davis

Bob Davis — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:14:47 +0000

There’s a restaurant in Maine that has a wooden “old school” phone booth, with a working phone in it. If I can find the photo, I’ll try and post it.

By: joeBoy

joeBoy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:29:42 +0000

Why rip out the phones? The presence of a payphone will not prevent your cellphone from working, and it provides a convenience for people who don’t have a cell (homeless, impoverished, etc … ) as well as people whose batteries have run out.

By: jfruh

jfruh — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:44:46 +0000

In interior spaces like the library, they ought to rip out the phones and leave the booths and call them “cell phone booths.” That will allow people to make phone calls without irritating everyone around them.