Gone from NY but the latest
ARINC Chart seems to indicate that San Francsico has taken over 129.450 and 129.400 in that area. So you guys are not hearing anything anymore on 129.450 or 129.400 ? Hopefully it won't become "a thing" to run phone patches on 129.900, real annoying when you are trying to get your HF frequencies.
Note that San Francisco and New York are all part of the same company. The work has just been divided up differently than 30-40 years ago.
Another consideration is data communication. Voice has been replaced by a lot of data. Years ago we would read magazines and limited threads of the "new" internet to learn about radio and military stuff...now you will read what I type almost instantly. So if an issue does not really require voice communication - the pilots type out a message in the cockpit and someone replies. The number of frequencies needed for voice has changed very little while the number of frequencies for ACARS and other VHF digital modes has increased. Additionally note that the chart shows coverage for aircraft flying above 20K. There are other sites located at airports for on ground communication.
How do you receive a frequency without voice (aircraft told to contact New York Center on 133.500) (inbound to New York area from over the ocean)
Track United (UA) #148 flight from São Paulo-Guarulhos Int'l to Newark Liberty Intl
flightaware.com
FANS-1/A CPDLC MESSAGE:
CPDLC UPLINK MESSAGE:
HEADER:
MSG ID: 7
TIMESTAMP: 08:55:27
MESSAGE DATA:
CONTACT [ICAOUNITNAME] [FREQUENCY]
FACILITY NAME: NEW YORK
FACILITY FUNCTION: CENTER
VHF: 133.500 MHZ
09:10 local time - monitoring a medical type call on 129.450 - think it was a Frontier Airlines flight
09:21 local time - ABX 7392 with departure message for operations on 129.400