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Area codes 212, 646, and 332 are
area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...
s in the
North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...
(NANP) for most of the
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. By area, it is one of the smallest numbering plan areas (NPAs) in the country. The area codes form an
overlay complex In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbe ...
, and are also overlaid by
area code 917 Area code 917 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the entirety of New York City. It is an overlay code to all numbering plan areas (NPAs) in the city, and was intended to serve cellular, pager, and voicemail appli ...
of a numbering plan area that comprises the entirety of New York City. Area code 212 is the original code assigned for all of the city in 1947. Its use was restricted to just Manhattan and
the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
in 1985, when area code 718 was created for the city's other three boroughs; the Bronx received area code 718 in 1992. Subsequently, area code 646 was assigned as an overlay code for Manhattan in 1999, and area code 332 was added in 2017.


History

Area code 212 is one of the original North American area codes assigned by the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...
(AT&T) in 1947, originally serving all five
boroughs of New York City The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective Administrative divisions of ...
. For the next 37 years, New York City was one of the largest toll-free calling zones in North America. On February 1, 1984, in response to a request from New York Telephone, the New York Public Service Commission voted to create a second area code for New York City. The split was implemented in a way that divided the city's three million telephone numbers roughly in half.
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, and
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
received the new area code 718, while Manhattan and
the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
kept 212. Amid protests from local officials and state lawmakers, the commission was persuaded by New York Telephone's reasoning that a new area code was needed to "prevent an impending exhaustion of
telephone number A telephone number is the address of a Telecommunications, telecommunication endpoint, such as a telephone, in a telephone network, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A telephone number typically consists of a Number, sequ ...
s." New York Telephone made some 718 telephone numbers operational several days in advance. Despite state lawmakers for the outer boroughs threatening legislation to stop the division, 718 began its split as scheduled on September 1, 1984. Permissive dialing of 212 continued across New York City, during which either 212 or 718 could be used, until January 1, 1985, when the use of 718 became mandatory for the boroughs affected. On July 1, 1992, the 718 territory was expanded to include the Bronx and the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, while the rest of Manhattan remained in 212. Permissive dialing of 212 continued across the Bronx until May 16, 1993, during which either 212 or 718 could be used; after that date, 718 had to be used for telephone calls to the Bronx from everywhere outside the borough except the three boroughs that originally had the 718 code, and Bronx residents telephoning Manhattan had to dial 212. On September 25, 1993, callers from the Bronx no longer had to dial 718 to reach Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. In 1992, the entire city was overlaid with
area code 917 Area code 917 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the entirety of New York City. It is an overlay code to all numbering plan areas (NPAs) in the city, and was intended to serve cellular, pager, and voicemail appli ...
, which had originally been planned for only the Bronx and mobile service. With available 917 mobile numbers becoming scarce, area code 646 was implemented on July 1, 1999, as an overlay for Manhattan. During November 2015, area code 332 was assigned as a third overlay area code for Manhattan, the fourth serving the area and the seventh serving New York City. Area code 332 became active on June 10, 2017, as area code 212 was expected to become depleted of numbers during the third quarter of 2017,2015-1 NRUF and NPA Exhaust Analysis
. ''
North American Numbering Plan Administration The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...
''. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
and 646 is expected to become depleted of numbers by 2018. This effectively allocates 23.4 million numbers to a borough of 1.6 million people.


Marble Hill

The Manhattan neighborhood of Marble Hill is located in the 718/347/929 numbering plan area (NPA), rather than the Manhattan NPA. Marble Hill, although administratively a part of the Borough of Manhattan, was severed from Manhattan Island by the construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal during 1895. The by-passed segment of the
Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...
was filled in 1914, making the community a geographic part of the Bronx. When the Bronx was reassigned with area code 718 in 1992, Marble Hill residents fought unsuccessfully to retain 212. Marble Hill's trunks are wired into the Bronx wire center, and it would have been too expensive for New York Telephone to rewire them.


Market reputation

A business with a 212 area code is often perceived as having the prestige of Manhattan and the convenience of stability, particularly if a number has been in service for several decades. An example is ''212-736-5000'' ( PEnnsylvania 6-5000), the number for the Hotel Pennsylvania in Midtown. Prior to its closure in 2020 and subsequent demolition, the hotel claimed it was the oldest telephone number used continuously in New York City, though this is disputed. The owners of the hotel have stated the phone number will remain in use for the new office tower replacing the historic hotel. The hotel's phone number appears as the title of the 1940 Glenn Miller Orchestra hit song " Pennsylvania 6-5000". Area code 212 is considered prestigious by some Manhattan residents, because of its tradition as the city's original sole area code, and today's scarcity of available telephone numbers. Businesses sell 212-telephone numbers, although it is uncertain whether the customer or the
telephone company A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...
is the legal owner of a number. In August 2010, AT&T reported that there were no new numbers available for area code 212. Several years prior, new landlines in Manhattan were assigned in the newer area codes, and users ported 212 numbers obtained from online sales.


See also

* 212 (song) *
List of New York area codes __NOTOC__ The North American Numbering Plan Administration has divided the state of New York (state), New York into thirteen distinct geographic numbering plan areas (NPAs) with a total of twenty-two area codes. New York City References ...
*
List of North American Numbering Plan area codes The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) divides the territories of its members into geographic numbering plan areas (NPAs). Each NPA is identified by one or more numbering plan area codes (''NPA codes'', or ''area code A telephone numbering plan ...


References


External links


North American Numbering Plan Administration

Area Code 212 Map and Data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 212 212 212 Communications in New York City Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1984 Telecommunications-related introductions in 2015 Manhattan