North American Numbers Source-cited · ownership disclosed
Area code
212
In service
United States · since 1947

Manhattan

Serves the borough of Manhattan in New York City. One of the original 1947 area codes and long the most iconic in the US.

The essentials Numbering data · NumberResearch · as of 2026-09-18
Place
Manhattan
Type
geographic
Status
in service
In service since
1947
Projected exhaust
2055 Q3

Status, dates and counts are read from NumberResearch (NANPA / CNAC / FCC records). Assignment records show initial assignees, not the carrier serving a number today.

A · Where it is

Where 212 is

The borough of Manhattan, New York City.

Communities served wholly or partly by 212:

Manhattan

Covers Manhattan only since 1992; Marble Hill (technically Manhattan) is served by 718.

B · Relationships

How it relates to other codes

The codes 212 was split from, spawned, or shares its area with. A split divides the map and changes some numbers; an overlay shares the same ground and changes none — what's the difference?

Spawned · 1984 718 Outer Boroughs Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island split off from 212 on Sept 1, 1984.
Overlay · 1992 917 New York City (overlay) 917 overlays all NYC including Manhattan; first NANP overlay.
Overlay · 1999 646 Manhattan (overlay) 646 added as a Manhattan overlay on July 1, 1999.
Overlay · 2017 332 Manhattan (overlay) 332 activated June 10, 2017 as Manhattan's third overlay.
What's changing. In an overlay complex with 646, 332 and 917 serving Manhattan; 212 numbers are essentially exhausted, allocations now come from the overlays.
C · History

How 212 got here

1947
Created as one of the original North American area codes, covering all five NYC boroughs.
Source: Wikipedia 212/646/332
1984-09-01
Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island split off to new code 718; permissive dialing continued to Jan 1, 1985.
Source: Wikipedia 212/646/332
1992-07-01
The Bronx transferred to 718, leaving 212 for Manhattan alone; 917 overlay introduced citywide.
Source: Wikipedia 212/646/332
1999-07-01
646 added as a Manhattan overlay as 917 mobile numbers grew scarce.
Source: Wikipedia 212/646/332
2017-06-10
332 activated as third Manhattan overlay (assigned Nov 2015 ahead of projected 2017 exhaustion).
Source: Wikipedia 212/646/332
D · Capacity

How full it is

Prefixes assigned
800
Prefixes available
0
Thousands-blocks assigned
476

Prefix-assignment counts describe allocation to carriers, not how many individual numbers are in use. Full technical records: NumberResearch ↗.

Compare 212 with another code →
Sources
Wikipedia (secondary) ↗
Area codes 212, 646, and 332
NumberResearch.org ↗
Live status, dates, assignment counts and exhaust forecast — data as of 2026-09-18 (CC BY 4.0).

Place, relationships and history above are compiled by North American Numbers from the sources listed and last checked 2026-09-18. A check date is not an expert review — see how this is made. Flag an error.