The city may be seeking designs for the phone booths of the future, but the New Museum has turned 5,000 Manhattan payphones into portals to the past. As part of its NYC 1993 exhibit, payphones around the city bring hyper-local, prerecorded stories to anyone who picks up the receiver and dials 1-855-FOR-1993. The personal stories, all of which share memories of NYC 10 years ago, center around the location of the phone, and they come from such notable names as WNYC's Brian Lehrer, the Village Voice's Michael Musto, star chef Mario Batali, actor Chazz Palminteri, fashion figure Fern Mallis, and many more. You can hear a snippet of stories in the video above, but don't try to call the number from anything but a payphone?if you do, you'll be politely told to hang up and head to the corner phone.
· Recalling 1993 [official]
· New Museum Offers Up Oral Histories From 1993 on City Pay Phones [GalleristNY]
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