Went out to Coney Island and through Bay Ridge today. I can knock Coney Island off my list of places I must check in on. The hoary, graffiti-ridden, blighted eyesore of a CityBridge payphone is finally gone. It’s hard to believe it lasted as long as it did, in such a prominent spot across from the subway depot. But someone must have complained. There’s no way CityBridge has the proactive mindset to do this based on their own recognizance. 

It is a pain in the ass getting out there, and that seems to be true no matter what mode of transport, be it personal car, express bus, or subway. It just sucks getting there – from Astoria, I should add. Bay Ridge is not exactly a quick jaunt, either, but I think I got my reasons for being there out of the way. Word from a Twitter follower was that a new payphone had been installed at a bar on 3rd Avenue, and that it really really worked. My understanding, which may have been more wishful thinking that understanding, was that it was installed by a former payphone professional and it could make coin-fed local phone calls. 

Alas, no such joy. It takes incoming calls and is used as the bar’s house phone, but that sucker ate my quarter and in return gave me nothing more than a chirpy “Error 2” announcement. I don’t even know why it has dial tone or why the coin slot is not blocked.  

I thought I’d go full circle and check on what I now believe to be the genuinely last payphone of New York City’s sidewalks. But it seemed so far in the moment. Now I wish I had gone the distance. It could be that if CityBridge got rid of the Coney Island phone they also axed the other one. I don’t know but it will have to wait.