New York City is a phone call away from getting a new area code.
The new code — which would be used in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Marble Hill section of uptown Manhattan — was requested by wireless companies because the existing four used in the five boroughs are expected to be exhausted by the end of 2026.
On Tuesday, the state Public Service Commission will hold two virtual public hearings before Administrative Law Judges Nicholas Planty and James Costello on the petition to add a new three-digit code for the city.
If approved, the new area code will only be applied to new numbers. Existing landlines and mobile phone lines with area codes 347, 718, 917 and 929 would retain their existing phone number.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which oversees telephone numbers in 20 countries from Canada to the Caribbean, filed a petition with the state to add area codes in May and is awaiting authorization for the proposed new code. The numbers for the new code have not been selected. It also requested that it be introduced six months before the others run out.
If the new code is not approved, an alternative plan would eliminate the boundaries between 347, 718, 917,929 and the other codes used in the city: 212, 332, 646, 917.
The last area code change in NYC dates back to 2011, when 929 was added.
The original 212 area code was created in 1947 for all five boroughs. Area code 718 was implemented in 1984, followed by 917 in 1992 and 347 in 1999.