Manhattan 'Still Going Strong'

New York City -- The brand new Verizon SuperPages 2002 -- 2003 directories honor the citizens of New York City for their resilience with the cover theme "Still Going Strong." Championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in an open letter in the Community Magazine section, the theme praises New York City small businesses for their role in the recovery of the City. Both the white and yellow pages covers underscore the city's strength and endurance with historic and contemporary postcards of Manhattan.

"No matter how big our City may grow, it is still comprised of neighborhoods, of small businesses, and of people," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Take a look around, at your florist, your news shop, your corner restaurant, and your plumber, and say thank you for 'Still Going Strong'."

To mark the beginning of directory distribution, Verizon officials and Mr. SuperPages, a life-size representation of the Verizon yellow pages, today visited a Readings in the Park children's event -- sponsored by Verizon Information Services. The reading was held at Washington Square Park, where master storyteller Kati Kuroda presented Japanese folk tales to more than 100 Manhattan children, who were then treated to a visit from Mr. SuperPages.

"Verizon is pleased to work with the Mayor and the city in supporting programs such as the Readings in the Park," said Fred Bonaccorso, regional vice president of sales -- New York, Verizon Information Services. "And we're helping promote commerce with new products including a time-and-cost-saving CD-ROM directory that increases efficiency in government and business offices."

For the first time, Manhattan-based government agencies and businesses that receive 50 or more SuperPages directories also will receive a free network CD-ROM with their delivery.

In addition to his special visit to the reading in Washington Square Park, Mr. SuperPages delivered new Manhattan Verizon SuperPages directories to several of New York City's most distinct landmarks, including the Children's Museum of Manhattan and the Empire State Building. The landmarks are featured in the directory's Community Magazine, which showcases city attractions and arts and entertainment venues.

"Verizon has had a strong personal and professional alliance with New York City for nearly 125 years," said Bonaccorso. "Our headquarters are here, we have more than 14,000 employees living and working in the area and we have long been a major contributor to the City's well-being."

Readings in the Park

Readings in the Park is a community-focused literacy initiative that encourages New York City students to read throughout the summer. With Verizon's support for the fourth consecutive year, the City Parks Foundation in partnership with the City of New York Parks & Recreation is hosting more than 50 free readings throughout New York City parks in all five boroughs this summer.

New CD-ROM Directory

For the first time, a network CD-ROM directory will be distributed to Manhattan-based government agencies and businesses that receive 50 or more Verizon SuperPages directories. The CD-ROM, which will be delivered along with the print directories, allows large business customers and government agencies to load the electronic version directly onto their local area networks (LANS), where employees can then access directory listings and advertisements directly from their individual computer stations.

The CD-ROM format offers environmental and storage efficiency for operations that normally use a large number of directories. All Manhattan businesses and government agencies that receive advertising in the Verizon SuperPages also will receive a copy of the SuperPages directories on CD-ROM.

New Directory Features

New this year in the Manhattan Verizon SuperPages is the Dining Your Way Restaurant Guide. This comprehensive guide to local dining includes an A-Z reference to Manhattan restaurants and a Feature Finder for locating specific cuisines and selecting Menu Pages. For assistance in locating an area restaurant or business, New Yorkers can reference city cross streets in the Verizon SuperPages, as well as a pullout, street-level map of Manhattan.

In addition to finding local listings in the Manhattan SuperPages, area residents can log on to Verizon SuperPages.com (www.SuperPages.com), the Internet's leading online directory and shopping resource, for millions of local and national business listings. In support of both SuperPages.com and the printed SuperPages, the Manhattan directory includes the Verizon Internet Guide, a road map to the information superhighway -- complete with Internet searching tips, unique Web sites and Internet-related businesses.

About Verizon Information Services and SuperPages.com

Verizon Information Services is the world's leading print and online directory publisher, a content provider for communications products and services, and the largest publisher of Hispanic directories in the U.S. With operations in 16 countries and annual revenues of more than $4.3 billion, Verizon Information Services publishes nearly 1,200 U.S. Verizon SuperPages directories and 400 international directories with a total circulation of approximately 150 million copies worldwide.

Based in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services produces and markets SuperPages.com, the Internet's #1 online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com receives as many as 13 million visits and 9 million unique visitors a month and powers directory services on MSN, InfoSpace, AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, BigFoot, Tripod and Angelfire as well as more than 2,500 affiliate Web sites.

The company supports computer literacy with philanthropic programs and through the Enlighten Me and Internet Learning Tutor sites on SuperPages.com. Enlighten Me is a fun site where children and their caregivers go to read, learn and explore. The Internet Learning Tutor is specifically designed for adults who are just learning their way around the Internet.

Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Through its signature Verizon Reads program and the Verizon Literacy Network, Verizon is leading the fight to increase U.S. literacy levels by creating community and corporate awareness, raising funds, encouraging collaboration among literacy providers and engaging employees in supporting literacy programs.

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