Area code snobbery

There’s a great deal of area code snobbery in New York City, and I can understand why. We used to all be connected by the prestigious "212." Smart, elegant and classic – it’s all the things New York is, and so when the city was split by the debut of 646, no one wanted to give up their 212.

I’ve heard people moving into new apartments say "I just don’t know what I’ll do if they don’t give me a 212." No one wants to be branded by the 646 – it’s the mark of a non-native. The worst is getting a 917 for your home number – everyone assumes you only have a cell phone, and not a landline.

Even cell phone users would prefer to have the 917 than the 646. 917 is so the new 212 of the New York mobile community.

You outer-borough people aren’t above this either. You ask a proud Brooklynite to trade in his 718 for a 347 number, and if he doesn’t knock your teeth out at the mere suggestion, he’ll just look at you, puzzled and ask why you want him to have an area code that makes him sound like he’s in Kalamazoo Michigan, when he’s two blocks off the "F" train.