New area code to come to Nassau in 2023, state says

Nassau County on Thursday came another step closer to a second area code.

With the supply of 516 phone numbers projected to run out, at the latest, by the second quarter of 2023, the New York State Public Service Commission announced Thursday plans to start "providing numbering relief" by authorizing a new area code, expected to be activated before that same quarter next year.

"The new area code will provide additional much-needed phone numbers for residents and businesses in the existing 516 area code region," the commission wrote in a news release.

Phone numbers with 516 will keep that area code, under an "overlay" plan, but newly assigned numbers will generally get the new one. Still, due to the complex way carriers acquire phone numbers, it's possible certain new lines will still be assigned 516 for a while.

So what's the new area code? That hasn't been disclosed.

But the numbers within the area code could be assigned starting in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, Heidi Wayman, a manager for the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which rolls out new area codes, told Newsday in October.

She said then that she is one of only two people in the United States who knows the new code. On the topic of what the new code will be, the commission Thursday said only, "The three-digit number that will be the new area code will be announced in the near future."

The commission chose overlay, instead of the earlier method, for "area code relief," as happened in 1999 when 631 was created: splitting the geographic area into separate zones, with phone numbers in one zone keeping the existing area code and the other zone transitioning to the new area code, according to the commission's order, dated Thursday and posted online. The commission also decided against creating a cellphone-only area code.

The commission's order Thursday calls for "public education efforts regarding the new area code."

Whatever the choice winds up being, the new area code joins 631, which in 1999 became Suffolk’s, splitting from Islandwide 516; and 934, Suffolk’s second area code, which debuted in 2016.

The new area code wasn't the only phone news last year.

Starting Oct. 24, mandatory 10-digit (and, depending on the carrier, 11-digit) dialing was introduced for Nassau to cover calls from a 516 phone number to another 516 number.

The requirement was added because starting on July 16, "988" is debuting as a new suicide-prevention hotline, and requiring the dialing of area codes like 516 will prevent callers from mistakenly dialing the hotline when intending to reach a seven-digit phone number that begins with "988."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.