Small businesses with their roots in the early to mid-20th century still abound in the pockets and corners of Manhattan. And what a treat it is to come across one of these old New York businesses still using a pre-1960s two-letter phone exchange.
Case in point: Abbey Locksmiths, at 1558 Second Avenue just shy of 81st Street. The main sign for this business, established in 1952, has an all-numerical phone number.
But look closely at the neon signage in the front window: the phone number starts with LE.
LE for Lexington? After years of looking into these old-school phone exchanges, I’ve found that though some are named for local streets and landmarks, others have no ties to the neighborhood.
But Lexington Avenue is just two avenues away, a shopping street with a subway stop at 86th Street. In the absence of a comprehensive guide to old New York phone exchanges, it’s as good a guess as I can come up with.
