Dialing Up History (Published 2008) (2024)

Dialing Up History

Q: Given the ubiquitousness of cellphones, it’s easy to forget that telephones are historical artifacts, but I’ve often wondered: What is the oldest telephone number still in use in New York?

A: Here’s an educated guess.

Telephone numbers were introduced in the city in 1880; callers told the operator the number they wanted. The Spring exchange is thought to be the oldest named exchange to have survived into the 1960s, the era of all-digital dialing and the gradual elimination of exchange names.

Phone exchange listings with phone numbers first appeared in New York Times advertisem*nts in 1882; an example was Spring 255, for a funeral parlor.

The older numbers had two or three digits. Later, four digits were used. In December 1920, as the phone company prepared for direct local dialing, all numbers became four digits. The older two- and three-digit numbers acquired four digits by adding one or two zeroes: Spring 255, say, would have become Spring 0255.

Four-digit exchange numbers remained standard until Dec. 31, 1930, when a fifth digit was added, as in PEnnsylvania 6-5000, the famous Hotel Pennsylvania number, which still exists in its numeric form, 736-5000. But in the 1920s, subscribers with dial telephones were using the first three letters of the exchange name, dialing the numbers that corresponded to the letters (SPR for Spring would have been 777.)

So for the oldest numbers still in use, you might look for 777-0XXX or 777-00XX, whose two- or three-digit ancestors may have been in use a century ago under the Spring exchange.

Money, Realty and Fun

Q. Can you explain the meaning of the three sculptures that float like buoys in the East River off the northern Roosevelt Island shore?

A. The playful pieces, installed on pilings just off the island, are “The Marriage of Real Estate and Money,” a 1996 installation by Tom Otterness.

In the main piece of “Marriage,” a smiling gentleman penny holding a bowler hat has its arm around a skirted house. In the two others, Mr. Penny and Ms. House are being gobbled up by sinister sea creatures, one with a moneybag head.

“I thought it looked good with the Manhattan skyline behind it,” Mr. Otterness said in an interview. Explaining the two side sculptures, he said, “The marriage is in trouble on each side, and they’re being pulled under.”

A Hand for the Police

Q. A week ago, my wife had a bad fall on a Midtown street. The two officers stationed on that block were kind and helpful, and I’d like to write someone to compliment them. Can you help?

A. Certainly. If you want to register approval of a police officer’s actions, you can write to Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, One Police Plaza, New York, NY 10038, or send an e-mail message to pc.office@nypd.org. Get the officer’s name. The letter goes to the commissioner, with a copy forwarded to the officer’s commander and another copy to the officer’s personnel folder.

If you have a complaint about an officer, you can contact the commissioner’s office at the same addresses. You can also contact the Civilian Complaint Review Board.