Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> (04/24/91)
I made a note of the following, apparently a result of my own July, 1986 visit to that area in New York City: 212-516-8003, in Grand Central Station; 30-second call from it to anywhere in New York state for 25 cents. (Recently, it's been said in this Digest that there is no 212-516 -- it could have been discontinued since I made the above note -- and when I tried to call the above number yesterday or today, I got intercepted in 215, where my outgoing long distance calls go thru.)
Ed_Greenberg@3mail.3com.com (04/25/91)
I have vague recollections of a service that allowed 25 cent calls all over New York State for a maximum of 30 seconds. It was specifically available at Grand Central Station (and probably Penn Station too) and was designed for "meet me at the station at 5:06" type of calls. I believe that my recollection dates from before 1982 and I have no details.
emanuele@kb2ear.ampr.org> (04/28/91)
In article <telecom11.306.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, Ed_Greenberg@3mail.3com.com writes: > I have vague recollections of a service that allowed 25 cent calls all > over New York State for a maximum of 30 seconds. It was specifically > available at Grand Central Station (and probably Penn Station too) and > was designed for "meet me at the station at 5:06" type of calls. I have seen these payphones in Penn Sta. as recently as last month. I needed to call NJ to have someone pick me up at the station. I had four minutes until the train left. Tried to place a BELL ATLANTIC credit card call, dialed 0 + 908 XXX-XXXX got a reorder. Tried JUST 0, got re-order. Phone ONLY took COINS, asked for Four Dollars and Fifteen Cents Please! Made the call AT the station (in NJ) for $.25 Mark A. Emanuele V.P. Engineering Overleaf, Inc. 218 Summit Ave Fords, NJ 08863 (908) 738-8486 emanuele@overlf.UUCP
Danny Padwa <PADWA@hulaw1.harvard.edu> (04/28/91)
In article <telecom11.306.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, Ed_Greenberg@3mail.3com.com writes: > I have vague recollections of a service that allowed 25 cent calls all > over New York State for a maximum of 30 seconds. It was specifically > available at Grand Central Station (and probably Penn Station too) and > was designed for "meet me at the station at 5:06" type of calls. Yup ... that was exactly how this worked. It was introduced back in the days of ten cent local calls in New York. New York Tel introduced these phones in Penn Station, Grand Central (I guess), and JFK International Arrivals (and perhaps other places ... I've only used them at Penn). It was quite a deal ... for a quarter you could call anywhere in the state (even Buffalo!) for 30 seconds ... at which point you got cut off with no warning or mercy. They were quite a hit with the commuter crowd ... I have often found it useful to be able go into the city by train, knowing that when I need to go home, I'll be able to call home to tell Mom which train I'll be on, for only 25 cents. Now that a local call also costs a quarter, the "special" phones are a great deal!! Danny Padwa Padwa@Husc3.Harard.Edu (and a frequenter of the Long Island Railroad!)
Leryo Malbito <leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu> (04/29/91)
Right. These phones are still in use in Grand Central AND in Penn station. They allow calls to anywhere on Long Island, and up into Westchester. ANAC (958 here in New York) doesn't work from these phones, but through other methods it was determined by myself that the phone numbers of these payphones are 212-516-xxxx, and they don't allow incoming calls. Leryo
@cca.ucsf.edu, roger@eecs.nwu.edu (04/30/91)
cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) writes: > I made a note of the following, apparently a result of my own July, > 1986 visit to that area in New York City: > (Recently, it's been said in this Digest that there is no 212-516 -- > it could have been discontinued since I made the above note -- and I can't vouch for the exchange (since I moved out of NY in February, I haven't been within 2500 miles of Penn or grand Central Stations), but, as of Mid-February, the 30-second-to-anywhere-in-the-state phones were still in Penn Station. Since NY Tel went to one-plus dialing several years ago in NYC, there's no reason why there shouldn't be a 516 exchange in 212 area code. Email: roger@wet.UUCP alt: rogerd@well CompuServe: 72730,1010
Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> (04/30/91)
If such 25-cents-for-call-within-NY-state phone appears in JFK, I overlooked it when passing thru JFK for my trip to England late in 1989. What prefix would be used there? As for use of 212-516: It's already been noted that out of courtesy you do NOT use a nearby area code as a prefix. But since the phone on which 212-516 appears is not set up for incoming calls, it's OK to use a nearby area code as a prefix on it.