Verizon New York
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Predecessor | The New York Telephone Company |
| Founded | 1896 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | New York State, parts of Connecticut |
| Parent | Verizon Communications |
Verizon New York, Inc., originally known as The New York Telephone Company (NYTel), was founded in 1896 when it assumed control over the New York City operations previously managed by the American Bell Telephone Company.
Predecessor companies
In 1876, Charles A. Cheever and Hilborne Roosevelt established the Telephone Company of New York with the purpose of leasing telephone equipment, primarily serving industrial customers such as steel wire manufacturers involved in the Brooklyn Bridge project. Early telephone connections depended on customers supplying their own wiring infrastructure.
Subsidiaries of Western Union operated more extensive and technologically advanced telephone exchanges in cities like New York and San Francisco. After resolving patent disputes in 1879, Western Union handed over its telephone business to National Bell Telephone (which later became American Bell Telephone). This merger resulted in the formation of the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company. By 1896, Metropolitan combined forces with the Westchester Telephone Company, which provided service to northern suburbs eventually incorporated into New York City, forming the New York Telephone Company.
The New York and New Jersey Telephone Company, a Bell licensee covering Long Island and Staten Island areas, was dissolved in 1897; its assets within New York merged into the City and Suburban Telephone Company. AT&T later acquired a majority stake, restoring the use of the New York Telephone name.
This series of consolidations created the foundation for Verizon New York’s operational strategy, broadening its presence across major metropolitan markets and securing a competitive edge in telecommunications offerings.
Infrastructure
During the 1920s, the firm expanded its network infrastructure underground, investing heavily in an outside plant that would define its system for many years. The installation of new cable ducts improved service dependability, converging around approximately twenty wire centers linked by trunk cables running along Manhattan’s East and West Sides. These centers, located roughly one to two miles apart near commercial districts yet positioned to minimize real estate expenses, contained central office facilities equipped with switchboards, panel switches, and inside plant managed by technicians and operators. The largest facility served as corporate headquarters at 140 West Street, situated near AT&T’s main office at 195 Broadway.
Ownership of the underground network in Manhattan and the Bronx resides with Empire City Subway Company, a subsidiary. Comparable but smaller-scale networks were constructed in Brooklyn, Buffalo, and other urban locations. Expansion into suburban and rural regions predominantly utilized aerial cables or open wire systems paired with Strowger switching technology.
Service crisis
By the late 1960s, demand exceeded projections in Manhattan—NYTel’s most lucrative market—resulting in insufficient capacity. Customers experienced prolonged delays when requesting new lines or repairs and encountered slow dial tone responses. Newly installed 1ESS Stored Program Control exchanges were hampered by software defects that restricted their capacity. Deferred maintenance led to congested main distribution frames (MDFs) filled with inactive jumpers, while cable infrastructure and underground conduits proved inadequate. Employee morale suffered amid recurrent labor strikes.
To address these issues, NYTel hired thousands of new workers and invested heavily in updated equipment. Although underground construction required several years to complete, emergency deployment of Anaconda Carrier pair gain systems—typically used in rural settings—temporarily increased service availability during this period. Bell Labs improved system processing capabilities and corrected software flaws. A newly built wire center at 1095 Avenue of the Americas reduced strain on four Midtown Manhattan wire centers and served as company headquarters for many years. The situation gradually improved throughout the 1970s as staffing stabilized.
On February 27, 1975, a fire at the telephone building located at 204 Second Avenue destroyed the MDF, resulting in disconnection for tens of thousands of customers and damaging outdated switching equipment. This facility functioned as a crucial hub linking circuits to Brooklyn via trunk cables on Second Avenue. The Bell System responded promptly by replacing the MDF; a decommissioned exchange at West 18th Street was temporarily reactivated to restore service to thousands of affected customers. The damaged Number One Crossbar Switching System (1XB switch) was cleaned for reuse, while a planned 1ESS switch intended for another location was redirected here. This incident represented the largest telephone service disruption caused by fire in U.S. history until the events of September 11.
Montmartre telephone directory entry
From 1977 to 1979, New York Telephone attracted media scrutiny due to efforts to remove a paid listing for "Montmartre Govt Of" from the government blue pages. Barry Alan Richmond, a theater promoter who sponsored the listing, challenged the removal by appealing to the New York Public Service Commission and the courts. After a two-year legal process, he obtained a favorable decision from the PSC.
Fully owned subsidiary
Prior to the 1984 divestiture, New York Telephone operated as a subsidiary of AT&T. Following the breakup, it merged with New England Telephone & Telegraph Company, resulting in the creation of NYNEX. In 1994, the company simplified its branding from "New York Telephone, a NYNEX Company" to just "NYNEX." On August 15, 1997, Bell Atlantic acquired NYNEX and maintained its corporate identity. Subsequently, Bell Atlantic merged with GTE in 2000 to establish Verizon Communications, which continued to be headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas until relocating in 2006.
New York Telephone offers local telephony services throughout most of New York State, with exceptions including regions served by Rochester Telephone Company and other independent providers. Additionally, it covers the Greenwich and Byram exchanges in Connecticut; the remainder of Connecticut falls under Southern New England Telephone (SNET).
As part of Bell Atlantic, New York Telephone was the first Bell operating company to secure authorization for providing long-distance services within its service area in December 1999, following enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
21st century developments
The September 11, 2001, attacks caused destruction to a small telephone exchange located inside the World Trade Center and inflicted damage on Verizon's primary exchange facility at 140 West Street—the Verizon Building. This included harm to cables beneath Vesey Street and internal plant equipment affected by debris. As a result, approximately 300,000 business and residential voice circuits experienced outages, alongside disruption to about 3.6 million data circuits—including those serving the New York Stock Exchange—and ten cell towers.
While telephone service was lost at the Police Department headquarters, partial connectivity was maintained via the nearby NYTel building at 375 Pearl Street, which operated its own exchange. Emergency restoration efforts involved laying cables along streets closed to traffic to swiftly reinstate essential communications lines.
Around 3,000 Verizon employees joined by additional personnel nationwide worked diligently to restore service capabilities, enabling the network to process 230 million calls within the first week after the attacks. Damaged exchange equipment such as the DMS-100 was replaced in the subsequent year. The Verizon Building underwent extensive refurbishment and officially resumed its function as corporate headquarters during a ceremony on December 8, 2005, when Verizon moved back from 1095 Avenue of the Americas.
In later years, Verizon divested portions of several exchange properties and eventually returned its headquarters to 1095 Avenue of the Americas.