A short tribute — sob — to the World Famous Pee Phone™

Many of you likely already noticed this disheartening disappearance this summer. 

On Avenue A at Seventh Street, the long, distinguished reign of the World Famous Pee Phone™ has come to an undistinguished end ...

Back in March, workers started removing the open-air pay phones on Avenue A... though the World Famous Pee Phone™ was spared at the time. 

Anyway, the booth was a recurring character through the early years here in these pages — and elsewhere! (And I don't honestly remember who bestowed the booth with the Pee Phone moniker. Eden? I retain the Pee Phone™ though for merchandising and the forthcoming bingeworthy Peacock series.)

A quick look back... when it served as a lending library...

... when there was a price increase...

... and just a day in the life...

Thank you for always being there for us.

The disappearing pay phones along Avenue A

In the last week or so, workers have hauled off the open-air pay phones on the northwest side of Avenue A at Fourth Street (above) ... the west side Avenue A at Third Street...

... and the west side of Avenue A at Second Street...

The one on the east side of A at Third Street is also gone. However, the pay phones remain on the south side of Fourth at A... 

... and the south side of A at Fifth...

So you still have a place to take a _____ or put down your bottle of ______ or roll a _____.

Thankfully, for now anyway, the World Famous Pee Phone™ is still on duty on Avenue A at Seventh Street.  

Anyway, all this was expected... in late February 2020, Gothamist reported that the Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) was going to uproot nearly 3,000 pay phones around NYC that are maintained by CityBridge. A few non-CityBridge phones are likely to remain. And expect to see some new LinkNYC kiosks in some of these spaces.

Farewell, some day maybe soon, to the World Famous Pee Phone™

[Do you remember the times that we had...]

Meant to mention this sooner... On Monday, Mayor de Blasio announced the winner in a competition to replace the city's pay phones.

Meet your new WiFi Internet hotspot stand thing via a consortium of companies called CityBridge:

LinkNYC is a proposal for a first-of-its-kind communications network that will bring the fastest available municipal Wi-Fi to millions of New Yorkers, small businesses, and visitors. The five-borough LinkNYC network, which will be funded through advertising revenues, will be built at no cost to taxpayers and will generate more than $500 million in revenue for the City over the first 12 years.

By replacing the aging network of public pay telephones with state-of-the-art Links, the City aims to transform the physical streets cape — and New Yorkers’ access to information — while also creating new local jobs for the development, servicing and maintenance of the structures.

And they will look like...



The city will eventually replace the pay phones around the city ... with a few exceptions. Via the Times:

The city also plans to remain hospitable to the cape-wearing set. CityBridge said it would maintain three existing “Superman pay phones” scattered along West End Avenue, where a small number of traditional phone booths have survived.

Anyway, you have a little time left to bid farewell to the World Famous Pee Phone™ on Avenue A at East Seventh Street. Maybe one more winter together.

And no word yet if those fancy interstellar, download-25-years-worth-of-the-Simpsons-in-47-seconds LinkNYC things will have a little shelf to hold the vodka like the World Famous Pee Phone™.


[EVG file photo via Bobby Williams]

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Miracle on Avenue A™: World Famous Pee Phone™ has a phone again

Out of order: World Famous Pee Phone™, others, face a future without quarters, whiskey

All is well at the World Famous Pee Phone™

World Famous Pee Phone™ now with lending library

New amenity on Avenue A and East Seventh Street, of course.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Miracle on Avenue A™: World Famous Pee Phone™ has a phone again

Out of order: World Famous Pee Phone™, others, face a future without quarters, whiskey

All is well at the World Famous Pee Phone™

Noted

World Famous Pee Phone™ imposter on Third Avenue.

All is well at the World Famous Pee Phone™

Avenue A at East Seventh Street today. Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Miracle on Avenue A™: World Famous Pee Phone™ has a phone again

Out of order: World Famous Pee Phone™, others, face a future without quarters, whiskey

World Famous Pee Phone now getting in on the farm-to-table craze

Broccoli? That's so 2007. Where's the kale? Seventh Street and Avenue A.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

The Miracle on Avenue A™: World Famous Pee Phone™ has a phone again

Pee Phone™ watchers have been distraught since last August (carefully documented by our Melanie at East Village Corner), the last time that the Pee Phone™ actually had a working phone.

[August 2011 via Melanie]

And with the recent news that the city is getting rid of payphones (or payphones as we knew them) ... this sighting yesterday comes as a surprise... A phone! A phone that works!

[Bobby Williams]

Meanwhile, will these prices return for the summer season? (It's less expensive in the off-season.)

Out of order: World Famous Pee Phone, others, face a future without quarters, whiskey

Well, to no surprise, it appears the end is nearish for the World Famous Pee Phone (above) on Avenue A at Seventh Street and other pay phones in the neighborhood. According to the Post today, the city is ready to welcome the next generation of pay phones:

New Yorkers stuck with a battery-drained iPad or BlackBerry will soon be able to turn to the city’s newest “pay phones” — computer kiosks that let users buy access to the Web, e-mail and various apps.

The Jetsons-style setup — dubbed MIKE, or My Internet Kiosk Everywhere — will soon replace every single antiquated pay phone throughout the city, The Post has learned.

The Post reports that workers will install 100 MIKE systems (MIKE? Really?) around the city, starting at Penn Station.

A California-based company called Pacific Telemanagement Services took over Verizon's stock of public pay phones "after the communications giant decided it wasn’t making enough money off them."

Thanks Verizon. Now where are people supposed to hang their dry cleaning?

The Pee Phone's humanitarian tone

Yesterday at Avenue A and Seventh Street.

Thanksgiving morning at the World Famous Pee Phone

...and behind the phone on Avenue A at Seventh Street...

Not Too Big To Jail

Pee Phone hijinks on Avenue A at Seventh Street. But is the phone working again?

[Photos by Dave on 7th]

9:04 a.m., Avenue A, Dec. 4

At the World Famous Pee Phone©.

Eat Pray Love Ray's

It kind of rhymes, Eat Pray Love Ray's...



At the World Famous Pee Phone©.

World Famous Pee Phone getting competition

We'll be keeping an eye on this upstart on Third Avenue near 12th Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New prices for the world famous Pee Phone wiped away

Even the Pee Phone is more expensive now

Previously!


Now!



This is what happens when you become World Famous! Avenue A and Seventh Street, of course.

Meanwhile, for more fun under the sidewalk shelter here, I refer you to Bob Arihood and Melanie.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New prices for the world famous Pee Phone wiped away

New prices for the world famous Pee Phone wiped away

Melanie first took the shot of the new prices on the world famous Pee Phone ... And I was not pleased to see the Verizon truck pull up the other day for some spring cleaning...




And soon, the world famous Pee Phone prices were wiped clean ...



(And see more of Melanie's photos here.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Polishing up the Pee Phone

Alice in Knockerland

While I know the world famous Pee Phone has a caretaker on Avenue A at Seventh Street....Who was responsible for this? One day last week someone gave The White Queen additional cleavage...



...the next day a reduction took place...