05 November 2010

New York Wooden Phone Booth Population Being Gutted


I've taken a fair amount of time over the years to rhapsodize about New York's dying wooden phone booth population. They're not so common anymore, but neither were they hard to find, if you knew which old bars and libraries to go into.

But recently, there's been a great falling off, mainly because so many old joints have bit the bust. The booths in Chumley's, Gino's (above), Fedora, Von Westernhagen's—all gone, because those restaurants are gone. And many of the remaining booths are being gutted, their phones removed, leaving wooden shells that have only a decorative use. Sardi's lost it's phones. The booth at Capsouto Freres doesn't work anymore. Neither does the one at Bill's Gay Nineties tavern. This is, I expect, because the wicked phone company charges businesses extra for keeping wooden phone booths in working order.

I could have bought the booth at Von Westernhagen's, but I couldn't afford it and had no vehicle with which to pick it up. Kills me to think I let it go.

4 comments:

ziegfeldgirl said...

Hello from Richmond, Virginia! I logged onto Lost City to review some of my favorite old posts and discovered, to my delight, that the blog is alive again. So glad to see this! I love your blog, and I commend you for documenting these beautiful (and often fleeting) vestiges of old New York.

upstate Johnny G said...

I've been meaning to ask....what's up with Chumley's these days? Last I recall from Lost City, there was still work to be done but the owners weren't saying much about it all.....

J9 said...

So, so glad to see your return to the blog. I've really missed it. Welcome back.

Theodore said...

The booth at Old Town is also gutted but at least it's still there.