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The other day, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new way the city will be able to monitor streets and make sure they are in good repair: The Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT). SCOUT inspectors will "drive every City street once per month and report conditions that negatively impact quality of life to 311." The inspectors will use their Blackberrys to report things like graffiti, clogged sewers, potholes, damaged bus shelters, and more.
Mayor Bloomberg explained, "It's government's responsibility to find the problems and fix them, not to sit there and say 'Duh we didn't know.' That's not what good government is all about, that's not what customer service is all about." Of course, Gothamist is all for this (and wish we could join a SCOUT citizens' unit) but it also seems like stuff the city should be doing anyway. The Mayor also demonstrated driving the SCOUT vehicles and promised "You would expect to see after a period, by the spring maybe . . . a material reduction in the number of rough streets and potholes."
Bloomberg is very enthusiastic about the program; he told reporters, "It'd be nice if when you see a SCOUT guy ... you honk your horn and say, 'Way to go, baby, you're making my city [better]!' Now, then we'll get a noise complaint... but that's another issue." And while the inspectors are expected to add almost 50% more calls to 311, the inspectors will not write tickets or report on noise pollutions or homeless, according to the Post.
The city also announced that its street cleanliness Scorecard found NYC streets to be a record-breaking 94.3% "acceptably clean" during the 2007 fiscal year. The press release mentioned that "even the lowest performing area in the city - Section 2, located in Brooklyn Community Board 3, which encompasses densely populated transportation hubs in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Heights, and Ocean Hill - had 82.1% of streets rated 'acceptably clean,' the highest rating it has ever received. " In May, the city announced that the cleanest streets in the city were in residential neighborhoods, like Staten Island's Great Kills, Queens' Douglaston and Little Neck, and the Bronx's Riverdale.
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This is obviously a conspiracty. These Scooters are just more gentrification tools causing real estate values to go up and more white people moving in and black people moving out. You so racist Bloomberg. Boo.
great idea! go bloomberg!
#1: So dirty streets and lots of potholes are what Black people deserve?
I'm skeptical about how well this idea will work, but I think it's something that might help make the city more palatable for everyone.
Ummm...wasn't this my tip? Thanks for the credit, Gothamist. So, shouldn't it be the obligation of every NYC civil servant to report problems they see around the city? Damn, why not offer them incentive bonuses to do so. Love the photo of Mike cruisin' in the golf cart.
Aw, he just uses those things to ride to his subway station.
It doesn't matter how clean the streets of SI are, it's still trashy. There I said it.
This is just a token from Bloomberg for the Masses to chew on ! He's up too something again, Just like the whole Congestion Pricing fiasco ! Plenty of citizens call the city's [311] service to complain about Potholes, Damaged Street lights, Clogged Drains, Etc. ! It's just another reason to waste taxpayer funds on something we really don't need right now . You employ these types of programs when Ur doing well (Financially speaking) Posted by; "STill Not Amused"
It's good to have a mayor who will be running for the Presidency soon. Let's see what other "ideas" he has in store...
I wish I had recieved one of those street scorecards to fill out.
I know a number of streets that would have recieved a failing grade, and I'm not even in that bad a neighborhood of Brooklyn.
#3 - black people deserve an affordable place to live. If you clean the streets black people won't afford to live there.
That's making a pretty big assumption about finances. There are plenty of traditionally Black neighborhoods that aren't trashy. If people have a sense of pride in where they live, they will take care of it and encourage other to do so. It takes a majority of people, or at least a vocal minority, however. Where I live is plenty trashy for many reasons, mainly overcrowding and few owner-occupied rentals, but we have very few Black families here. My original point was that #1 was a silly post that made three typical remarks: gentrification causes NYC's housing woes, White people displace Black people, and Bloomberg is racist.
Any family wants their kids to be able to walk on the side walk without stepping on vomit, feces, broken glass, dirty diapers, and used sanitary items. It has nothing to do with race.