PEnnsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common in the largest US cities from approximately 1930 into the 1960s. The named "Pennsylvania" exchange served the area around Penn Station in New York. The two letters, "PE", stand for the numbers 7 and 3, making the phone number 736-5000, not including the later area code 212 for Manhattan. The number is best known from the 1940 hit song "Pennsylvania 6-5000", a swing jazz and pop standard recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Its owner, the
PEnnsylvania 6-5000 Hotel Pennsylvania, claims it to be the oldest continuing telephone number in New York City. While the hotel opened in 1919, the exact age of the telephone number and the veracity of the hotel's claim are unknown. At the time of Glenn Miller's popular network radio broadcasts, most local telephone calls in large cities were being dialed directly. All intercity calls required the operator. There were no area codes. The length of local numbers varied widely; four or five digits was more than enough for a small city with a single central office, while separate central offices served individual neighborhoods