Let's have a warm round of applause for 929, the new digits for the so-called "outer boroughs." As you'll no doubt recall, last year the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) concluded that unless a new area code was provided for NYC, we would actual exhaust our supply in 2012, just as the Mayans predicted. And so began a "customer education" campaign to prepare everyone for the upcoming changes. Still feeling kind of anxious about these new numbers changing our lives forever? That's okay! We're going to be just fine—as long as you're not using a rotary telephone. You're not, are you? Because if so, this 929 going to take years off your life.
Starting tomorrow, the 929 will be assigned to some land line users in every borough except Manhattan. As City Room's Andy Newman reports, "When Grandma calls from her rotary phone, she will have to wait even longer for the dial to spring back — 9+2+9 adds up to 20 clicks, more than any other New York City area code. She might make that I’m-leaving-you-my-entire-Hummel-figurine-collection call to your cousin in 313 instead." But there's a solution: if find yourself stuck with a 929 area code that risks getting you disinherited, this guy has a pretty sweet 212 for sale. He wants a million dollars for it, but hey, that's still cheaper than moving to Manhattan.
