212 Lust: Old Phone Numbers Are New Thing in Tech Scene

The most coveted accessory in New York’s tech scene isn’t a new iPad app or an invitation to a private beta. It’s a status symbol that comes from the city’s analog age — something that evokes the days of egg creams and subway tokens, not Silicon Alley: a 212 area code.

Take Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai, one of the two minds behind the trendy online check-in service. The 28-year-old entrepreneur seemingly has all a young techie in New York might want: buzz and a growing brand valued at $95 million in its most recent round of venture funding. Everything, that is, except a 212 cellphone number.

“I had been thinking about it for a long time,” Selvadurai said. After moving to New York from Connecticut, he had to get a new phone and carrier. “I swapped my number to something new — 646 — to match my New York billing address but I really secretly wanted a 212,” he says. “But I never really went after it.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site