A Thief Yanked PDT's Secret Phone Booth Phone

Welcome to Eater's latest feature, Shit People Steal, in which we ask restaurateurs what items in their restaurant have been (or are frequently) stolen.

Today's theft report comes from Jim Meehan, owner of East Village cocktail den PDT. It's a bar in which the phone, located in a phone booth accessed off the side of hot dog shop Crif Dog, plays a huge part:

It just so happens that someone stole our phone about a week ago. After three years of having this really lame white intercom phone, I bought this awesome 1970's rotary phone for the booth. Last week, some drunk guy ripped the phone and cord out of the receiver. I had an old black rotary phone at home, so I donated the phone and cord to the bar. The black/orange phone actually looks really cool, but it's really disheartening how people steal stuff from bars and restaurants. We also had a really cool brass plaque in the bathroom that said something like "no cocaine peddling" that got ripped off. I wish I could have a word with those people...