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The city non-emergency hotline, 311, is now two years old. Mayor Bloomberg called it one of the "most popular services provided by the City of New York," logging in over 11 million phone calls between March 10, 2004 and March 9, 2005, which is a 75% increase from its first year. Some interesting statistics from the press conference:
- Four of the five busiest days for 311 were people calling about cold weather (2005: January 23 & 24, February 28, and March 1, which is the record holder with over 130,000 calls); the other day was when the $400 Property Tax rebate was announced last September 30What do you think of 311? Do you use it? Gothamist is a fan of the service, even with the long wait times, because it makes us feel better that we can call to say a traffic light is out. Our coverage of 311 has included how its used to settle scores, how it works, and its first birthday. And we do know that Baltimore was the first city to use 311.
- The 10 most common calls were for: Heat and Hot Water Complaints (667,608 calls); Noise Complaints (620,185); $400 Tax Rebate (457,613); CFC and Freon Removal (265,474); Landlord Maintenance Complaints (220,309); Parking Violations and Ticket Assistance (190,567); Towed Vehicle Information (159,750); Garbage Pickup Missed (127,410); Traffic Signal Defect (118,944); and Subway or Bus Information (105,551)
- Average time it takes to speak to a live operator: 27 seconds
- 80% of the calls are answered within 30 seconds
- 311 gets an average of 47,000 calls per day
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I'm crazy in love with 311. It has helped me get air conditioners picked up, find my car when it got towed and just about anything else I can think of that I probably wouldn't have gotten around to before simply because I didn't know the answer (that air conditioner would no doubt still be sitting in my basement just because I never had any idea who to call about getting it hauled away). You gotta love simplified processes. Mayor Mike gets major points in my book for a simple yet highly effective solution.
Speaking of outages, the link to "settling scores" doesn't seem to do anything. Does Gothamist have a 311?
All I want to know is how to stop those companies which throw fliers all over your property. Every day when I come home, I invariably toss 3 or more copies of the Marketeer bundles, supermarket flyers, Chinese menus, and all those damn curled flyers they think their allowed to stuff in your fence or porch grillework.
I call 311 every so often, just to find the right channel my complaint. So far, I have spoken to "Sanitation Engineers", have been visited multiple times by Sanitation Inspectors, filed numerous complaints with the local precinct, and all to no avail. I even spoke to Marty Markowitz, who said its their protected first amendment rights to advertise. (That or I suspect that he loves the good publicity the Marketeer gives him.)
Why am I so pissed? First of all, I hate having to make a daily cleanup of all the s**t that's laying outside my house, on the outside steps and porch, hanging in a baggie from the front door knob, or stuffed into my fence and handrail. Secondly, and more importantly, its an invitation that beckons to burglars that you are not home or away on vacation. And thirdly, because I hate being patronized by officials who tell me that "its their freedom of speech" to litter on your property, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Oh sorry, they did tell me I have to put a sign outside my house saying "NO FLYERS". As if the flyer-people actually bother looking at them.
The concept of 311 is fantastic, but dealing with the operators can be difficult. I am increasingly frustrated by operators who cannot find the proper screen for basic complaints, who don't know how to spell even the most common streets, and who ask repeatedly for things. And if you're complaining about something that is not commonly requested, forget about it.
311 lets me be a do-gooder with minimal effort. if i'm on my way to work and see a mattress lying in the street, or discarded tires, or a non-working traffic signal, i call it in. it's kind of amazing to see it fixed a day or two later. i've had occasions where they didn't know what to do with me, or the call-taker was an idiot, but on the whole i feel like it's a definite positive addition to life in NYC.
But they still won't answer Trivial Pursuit questions or name the song on the radio you know the one that goes....