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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 will buy your 212 number.. email me

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.

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 recently got a 212 Cell number with a Cingular pre-paid account. Is this number sellable?

212? Smacks of a land line. Who has a land line anymore? How passe.

i need some cellphone & i'm using a cashier cheque to pay u.

will u take it.maill asap.

thanks.

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...

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.

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.

212 is the ultimate area code, in and outside of the city. That's all there is to it.

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?

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.

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...

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.