212 area code

Area codes 212, 646 and 332 are area codes for most of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. By area, it is one of the smallest numbering plan areas in the North American Numbering Plan. These area codes are overlaid by area code 917, which covers the entirety of New York City.

Area code 212 is one of the original 86 area codes assigned by AT&T in 1947. It served the entire five boroughs of New York City until September 1, 1984, when Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island received the new area code 718, while 212 was reduced to cover only Manhattan and the Bronx.

Earlier, on February 1, in response to a request from New York Telephone, the New York Public Service Commission voted to divide New York City into two numbering plan areas. Despite protests from some 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 numbers." New York Telephone gave some 718 phone numbers a head start by several days. Despite state lawmakers representing the outer boroughs threatening legislation to stop the split, 718 entered service as scheduled on September 1.Permissive dialing of 212 numbers continued across New York City until January 1, 1985, when the use of 718 became mandatory across the outer boroughs.

On July 1, 1992, the 718 territory was expanded to include the Bronx and the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan (see below), 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 used for calls to the Bronx from everywhere outside the borough except the three boroughs that originally had the 718 code, and Bronx residents calling 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.

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