Area code 917

The blue area is New York State (outside the City of New York); the red area is area code 917 and overlay

Area code 917 is an area code for all five boroughs of New York City (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island). It was the first cellular/pager/voicemail area code for the city and is an overlay to Manhattan's 212/646/332 and the other four boroughs' 718/347/929. Occasionally, 917 is also assigned to landlines, most commonly in Manhattan, in large part because of the particularly severe shortage of numbers there.

Introduced on February 4, 1992,^[1] area code 917 is the first overlay area code in the North American Numbering Plan. When it was established, all cellphones in New York City were switched to 917, freeing up telephone numbers for additional landlines.^[2]

Shortly after its implementation, the Federal Communications Commission announced that any new area codes going forth must not be service-specific, but did grandfather 917 from that rule. It is the last area code added under the original X1X format, whose last digit was not 0.

In 1990, The New York Telephone Company wanted cellphones and pagers in Manhattan and all telephone lines in The Bronx to be assigned area code 917. The New York State Public Service Commission denied the request and chose the present configuration.^[3]

See also

• List of New York area codes
• List of NANP area codes
• North American Numbering Plan

References

External links

• North American Numbering Plan Administration
• NANPA Area Code Map of New York
• Whitepages Area code Map
• List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 917 Area Code

Coordinates: 40°43′42″N 73°59′39″W / 40.72833°N 73.99417°W / 40.72833; -73.99417