Hotel Edison Hotel Edison Hotel Edison is a historic hotel building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is part of the Triumph Hotels collection which is owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. It was constructed in 1931. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,000 guests on 26 floors and offered three restaurants. It attempted to mimic the telephone number PEnnsylvania 6-5000 of the Hotel Pennsylvania by using the telephone exchange name CIrcle 6-5000. Herbert J. Krapp was the architect, and Milton J. Kramer was the original owner. It is located on 47th Street, west of
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