Phone and data lines enter the basement of 140 West Street as copper wires or fibers bound into cables.

Each copper wire connects to an individual landline in lower Manhattan.

This door guards one of three power rooms in the building.

Technicians service copper wires on both floors.

The cables of copper separate into individual wire strands in long frames, some of which extend almost the length of the building.

This payphone was once used to test the lines; in 2011, Verizon sold almost all of its payphones.

A pillar of copper wires in front of equipment that processes fiber-optic cables.

Three telephonic switches connect calls through the copper lines. Here, one switch takes up a room.

A cut portion of a 3,600 pair copper cable.

This equipment processes the fiber-optic lines.

These copper wires are wrapped by hand using a wax string.

Fiber-optic cables loop into this room from the cable vault underground.

Ethernet equipment in front of equipment that services voice and data lines.

Large batteries supply power to all the phone networks in the building.