The world is going to end in 2012. Why bother.

On the bright side, there will be a new (area code) 867-5309 number available...

If you don't have 212 area code you are a loser.

There are plenty of people in this city who think that way.

I've kept my old phone number from the forties "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and it seems to work fine on my new rotary dial type iphone.

i always have a good laugh watching reruns of I Love Lucy and their phone number "Murray Hill 5-9975". let's bring those days back!

I dialed that number and got a cranky old hag who asked me if I wanted any of that bear her car hit on Route 6.

Don't ever call my mother a cranky old hag. She skinned the bear and is making a nice throw rug for my son to take back to college.

This new area code will be the end of this city.

Really, area codes are making less and less sense with number portability and the popularity of cell phones. I can move to Montana and keep my landline 718 number. I can order a number from a wireless carrier online from any city I want. I could be using a cell phone with a Kansas area code tomorrow if I wanted to, without ever leaving New York.

Area codes are a form of Apartheid. Discuss.

Here's a list of area codes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NANP_area_codes

I had the idea of giving one of the boroughs an individual code, say, Queens or Staten Island and open up all the 718 numbers from that borough.

Or have each borough have it's own area code: 212 for Manhattan, 718 for Brooklyn, 917 for the Bronx, 347 for Queens and 646 for Staten Island.

Wouldn't work out so well since 212/646 only cover one borough as it is. You'd probably just end up with even more area codes—2 area codes per borough, maybe 1 for Staten Island? 9 area codes is even worse than 6.

Actual URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_Numbering_Plan_area_codes

When I was working, I had 5 area codes that I used on a daily basis: 718 at home; 917 on my cell; 347 on my BlackBerry; 646 in my office; and 212 for my office fax. Area code overload! We had to replace our home phone earlier this year because the 1 button was worn out. I hate dialing "1-718" when I'm in Brooklyn even more than all the area codes.

It's a phone number. Who gives a shit even if there is a "conspiracy".

I doubt it's a "conspiracy" but there is merit to questioning whether a new area code is needed before implementing it. 212, 718, 917, 646, 347... It seems very unlikely that we're running short on numbers. Why add another to the mix? I suppose, with portability, there's reason to question whether these should even be considered "area" codes. I have a 212 number on my cell phone. I could move to Kansas and keep my number.

Because 7 digit dialing was awesome. Even more awesome on a rotary phone. Now you have to dial those 3 damn numbers. Every day. For the rest of your life. I don't really use the phonebook in my phone. Too many people get fucked when they loose their phone, forget their phone, no battery, whatever, and they loan a friend's mobile phone or use a payphone in an emergency and they don't know anyones numbers. The most common numbers I call I never program in. Practice makes perfect when you want to remember them.

Babies and kids don't have phone numbers. Not everybody lives by themselves to have a landline just for them. Not everybody gets the luxury of a private direct number at work. So instead of 5.25 numbers per human in NYC, its probably higher in real life because of the above. 7 or 9 numbers per person? What the hell. Commuters from the burbs will only have an office number in NYC. Still doesn't explain all the waste. And you never know when someone gives you a Canadian number anymore or a 900 number from the Carribean. 718, 212, 516, 201, 914, and that new 917 and I was good to go. Now theres like 20 of them. I only remember my zip code. No other zips in NYC. How am I supposed to know all these new area codes?

Oh, for the good old days when you could just turn a crank on the phone a few times and ask Sara the operator to connect you with Billy Bob.

There is no shortage. Go all ask the local service resellers like AT&T and Sprint (and dead ones like MCI), and old dialup internet providers to release their unused phone numbers. Try calling a random number, 9 out of 10 times always out of service. Then theres businesses where EVERY extension, some used, some not, in their skyscraper has its own phone number. Extension 1234 becomes 212-555-1234. The government handed out tons of phone number ranges to any puny reseller who asked in the 1990s. Payphones are disappearing, second lines for dialup are disappearing, fax lines are disappearing, house lines are disappearing. Everyone who will get a cellphone has one by now. No way you need more. Fuck, I don't even know the area codes in this city. Thank God my cellphone has free long distance, I don't know what how many codes are in the tri-state area any more. But watch out for those Canadian and Caribbean area codes, they look the same, but $1 a minute on your cellphone.

An area code has ~7 million numbers (0 and 1 aren't used for starting the number). NYC has 8 million folks. How the hell do you need 42 million phone numbers in NYC (6 area codes)? 5.25 phone numbers per person? WTF! And they want more? BULLSHIT!

1 for your cellphone, 1 for your house, 1 for your job. Thats 3. 5.25 per person? Wheres the other 2-3 numbers going to? Theres no shortage.