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Sweet Fancy Moses: It seems that there are some 212 area code phone numbers available for your cellphone! Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint and Nextel have a "small number" of 212 numbers for their customers. Verizon and AT&T don't have any (why doesn't that surprise us?), but one AT&T rep told the Post, "A 212 area code for a cell phone? That's gold!" The Post puts things into sharp relief, as Cingular customers who could get 212 numbers include those in NJ and notes that there are many Manhattan residents with 646 area codes. Bill Stern from NeuStar, the company that is the clearinghouse for all phone numbers, says, "It's interesting, the sociology of these numbers. To many people, the numbers say something about you - they carry a certain status."
The city's cell phone survey that looks at problem areas and service providers. And to bring things full circle, the Seinfeld episode, The Maid, where 646 is discussed.
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I had a 917 in Jersey City. I got the phone at the AT&T Wireless store on Broadway and Astor Pl., and figured "Why should I make all my friends call long distance?"
646 points out to people that you aren't a die hard born and raised New York...if got a 212 but I'd willingly exchange it for the excitement of experiencing New York for the first time again...
when i bought my apartment in manny back in 2000, i actually took over the old 212 number from the previous owners lest i get a 646 or a 347. i had to call them and ask for it. they must have thought i was insane. my cell phone, however, is a 646 number. i just didn't really care about having a 917 number.
646 is so wack! i've been 212 for 8 years and i'm never going to leave it- they'll have to pry my 212 from my cold dead hands.
I had a roomate who moved here from Texas. She was the stereotypical story -- moved here to be an actress, grew immediately poor and got frightened on the subways and two days after her insurance lapsed her car was stolen and that sort of thing. She got a cell phone a few days after arriving, and got a 212! The worst part was that she had NO IDEA how incredible it was.
Ungrateful wench, the city should try to chew her up and spit her up again.
I have a 718 cell. It's sweet.
Nice to see AT&T lagging behind as usual...
I'm sure a good number of people in NJ would kill for a 212 number.
You could always transfer a landline to a cell phone, too, which'd give you a 212 number...
What always got me confused, though, there's a publicist (not Lizzie Grubman, the other one) whose office landline is 917.
My Brighton Beach-residing girlfriend got a 212 area code with her new T-mobile cellphone almost two months ago. I thought it was a bit weird at the time. Meanwhile I, living in Manhattan, have a 646 Vonage line and 917 cell...
A couple of days before Christmas I walked into a T-Mobile on 86th Street to buy a phone for my teen sister. I bought a pre-paid plan phone, and lo and behold, I was assigned a 212 number!!! So yes, it is true that cell companies are handing them out. You'd think that they reserve them for high paying customers, but even lowly pre-paids can get one.
I have a 781 area code on my cell. It is SO COOL! I can make phone calls with it and everything.
Now you're all looking at me like I'm a buffoon. 781? What has that got to do with anything? Why should you care?
I don't know. I don't know why anyone cares about a 212 versus a 646 (although the 212 has less to do with Satan, which is a plus in a religious town like New York)
What does a 212 area code do? Is there some kind of glitch that makes the phone company give you money if people call you? Does it allow you to make long distance phone calls for local-call prices? Do telemarketers not dial 212? Are they going to build a 20 foot wall around the people in the 646 area code (but have daily Who concerts)?
Please educate me: Of what practical use is a 212 prefix over any other?
And, if it is of no practical use, why does everyone seem to care so bloody much?
212 is the ultimate area code, in and outside of the city. That's all there is to it.
What????? A 212 area code as a Jersey "item"? No way. No way. Scare half the people who would want to call you on the thing. "Oh, did you move to the city?"
I remember when 718 was controversial---like the Long Island part of NYC was being spun off. Then, at some point, 718 also became cool. Now 718 is the standard non-Manhattan area code to get. The runner up. The silver medal.
In the far suburbs, the idea has been to get in the NEW area code. Which is why no one would trade a 908 for 201. The idea for a while was to get an area code that sounds like a real area code (0 or 1 in the middle spot). But now, even, an "856" will do. It just has to scream "suburbia" "minimansions" "gentrified farm fields".
And finally, I always thought 201 (once all of N.J.) was the top area code, because it was the lowest number that could theoretically be an area code. And because Ma Bell's Long Lines was in Bedminster New Jersey. Maybe they gave 202 and 203 to Washington and Los Angeles to avoid local dialing confusion.
no! 201 is NOT top and i'll tell you why.
Area codes were being assigned, phones were rotary. On a rotary phone, 1 is the easist number to dial, and 2 is the second easiest. An area code couldn't start with a 1 because that meant calling long distance... so 2 was the first area code number. Thus, on a rotary phone, 212 is the easist area code to dial. DC is similarly easy, I believe.
201 is difficult, because you have to go all the way around to that pesky 0. They didn't do NJ any favors with that.
dave! you're adorable! i'd hazard to guess that a bunch of people reading this have NEVER used a rotary phone. i mean a real honest-to-goodness rotary phone, not the push-buttons-in-a-circle kind. dave, we're very old. 212, 312, 213 - the three top cities. now, if only daylight savings time made as much sense...
i need some cellphone & i'm using a cashier cheque to pay u.
will u take it.maill asap.
thanks.
212? Smacks of a land line. Who has a land line anymore? How passe.
I recently got a 212 Cell number with a Cingular pre-paid account. Is this number sellable?
This article is two years old. I've been monitoring it on and off, it seems that 212 area code numbers periodically show up on eBay (prepaid SIM card therefore not attached to personal information like social security number and sellable, transferable)
I have a Gold Rewards enrolled T-Mobile To-Go prepaid SIM with area code 212. The number has repeating digits, there are four 4's in it(212-444-xxx4). I am selling it for $150. Beats the hell out of the one on eBay for $300+. E-mail me if interested. I'm based in Manhattan, NYC.
I will buy your 212 number.. email me
I got a 212 a couple of years ago... just ask the cingular sales guy for it. He just called cingular and told them that I am getting a lot of calls from people who want to order pizza so I wanna change my number into a 212 area code. no problem.... within 5 min I had my 212 number!!!! wouldn't give it up for nothing in the world.
I am British and live in London and I have had a T-mobile for years with a 212 number. It did take some time and several calls to bemused operators somewhere in South Dakota who have no idea why these things are so special. It's worth it when i travel to New York and all the natives get so impressed...over a phone number. I was a little disappointed that someone I know got a 212 recently with a pre-pay. He didn't grasp the significance, being British.
My advice is to do what i did and call your operators and ask for it. If they say they don't have it put the phone down and call again and ask the same question. Eventually you'll get through to a guy who knows what he's doing at the call centre and will find you that golden number.
Is not impossible to get a 212 area code for your cellphone, but it will require a lot of luck on your part. I know because when I sign up with T-Mobile at their store on Madison and 51St back in May 2004, I was assigned a 212 number and I didn't even ask for one. So is basically a lottery for phone numbers. What's even more unusual is that I chose their cheapest plan at the time, so selecting an expensive plan may not increase your odd of getting one.
Almost don't want to tell people this, bc I love my exclusivity - but it's not hard at all to get a 212 cell anymore, at least from Cingular. You have to wait a bit until one comes in the pool but you will get one generally within a week. Only problem is you need an active acct with a number you are willing to ditch immediately when it comes up - they have to set up the switch automatically before someone else grabs it in the pool. Otherwise you will be stuck calling customer service every day until you happen to find one available.
I have a 212 number (on a prepaid account) for sale, but you can port the number to your carrier of choice.
Just opened an AT&T postpaid account here in CA, so no need for the prepaid account anymore.
Email me at alvinrayyu@aol.com
I have a bunch of 212 phone numbers for sale. You can reach me at intellectualsales09@gmail.com ebay id: intellectualsales
You can transfer them to any cell carrier, or VOIP.