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Photos: Manhattan's Secret Payphone Graveyard
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 17, 2013
Modified Jun 17, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 17, 2013
Modified Jun 17, 2013
Share
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We all know that payphones are going the way of the beeper; some are being replaced with touchscreen ones, some are being repurposed as art projects, but the vast majority are just disappearing little by little. If you're wondering what happens to some of these phones, look no further than upper Manhattan.
Photographer Dave Bledsoe found a veritable payphone graveyard underneath the elevated West Side Highway at 135th and 12th Avenue: "At least one hundred old, battered pay phones were locked behind a fence near the Park's Department building." Check out some photos of them above, and appreciate the fact he used his good camera for this one: "I almost took these on my iPhone, but my irony levels are dangerously low these days."
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outdated technology
payphones
telephones
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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