West End Avenue Phone Booths

I remember the first time I walked down West End Avenue and noticed something strange—a stand-alone phone booth. Then, I passed another one on the next block. There are many pay phone kiosks still around the city—although good luck trying to find one with an actual working phone—but I was right to be surprised by the booths. There are currently only four left in all of Manhattan, and all happen to be on West End Avenue, at 101st, 100th, 90th and 66th streets. 

When I first saw them I remember that they were different from one another, and I seem to recall at least one having hideous Verizon branding. Walk-in style booths have been steadily replaced by the cheaper open-air kiosks since the 70s, and now that virtually everyone has a cell phone, those kiosks are being replaced by wi-fi and charging hubs. 

These four booths, however, have persevered. The specific ones that I saw on my first walk down West End have since been replaced with four sleek, unbranded, uniform booths, indicating that they're here to stay. They manage to look both retro and futuristic with their generic, simple design and I'm so glad that they've survived.