Why 311 Matters

Without 311 service requests, NYC’s bureaucracy can’t substantiate facts on the ground. So they can’t take action.

311 service requests becomes data that city agencies have to deal with: either they have to fix the problem, study what is the root issue, or they have to ignore it. Without 311 service requests, agencies can just keep ignoring the problem – because they don’t know that it exists.

This isn’t about being a Karen or being a busybody: city agencies don’t always know the ground truth of what’s happening on the street. Get over yourself if you think this is snitching. The city is too big, things change all the time, and life comes at you fast. 311 is a centralized way that residents can let the city know what’s happening with non-emergency municipal services.

In New York City, there is a range of items you can make 311 service requests, from illegal parking, to broken hydrants, to unsafe construction sites, to sanitation issues, to broken walk signs. You can download the 311 app, or call 311 and an operator will take your service request.

I implore people to make 311 service requests, and if there are persistent issues then you can forward those service requests to your local community board, council member, and borough president. Without these service requests, it’s really easy for agencies or the NYPD or the mayor’s office to ignore the problem.

That doesn’t mean the system is perfect: there’s issues with NYPD closing out tickets suspiciously early or response times in weeks or months. It’s not great: I’m not defending poor municipal governance here. 

But (but!) it’s currently the only tool which substantiates what’s happening on the ground, and as the adage goes, if you see something, say something (to 311). It only takes a minute, and you can be the change you believe in.

In the spirit of helping make your 311 service request better, below are some tips and tricks.

Note: I am a member of Queens Community Board 2, but I’m speaking in my own capacity, and not speaking on behalf of the board. These are my views only, and do not represent the views of the City of New York, Electeds, or Queens Community Board 2.

Effective 311

1. Download the 311 app on your phone – it takes way less time to file a service request than using a phone operator. 
   Note: sometimes it’s difficult to categorize which service request to use, and that’s when the helpful operators are great. An example: there is a giant empty lot which every winter the sidewalks didn’t get shoveled, making the football field length of frozen ice particularly annoying. Only by calling 311 was I able to learn that HPD owned the site, and they didn’t even know it was a problem. After that the sidewalks were much better taken care of.
2. Download an app which puts a timestamp on the photo. Timestamp Camera (not SponCon: get it via Apple & Google) is what I use. It writes a time, date, and location onto the photo, and saves it in your camera roll.
3. If possible, and it’s safe, take a picture of the service item (an illegally parked car, broken hydrant, broken walk sign, etc),
4. Fill out the 311 service request on the app. try to be as specific on the details and address as you can. Sometimes you can’t find the address so you need to make a guess, and you can write a description in the details box. Don’t make anything up, be truthful, and just describe what you see.
5. Add the image of the service item
6. It’s up to you if you want to include your contact information or do it anonymously.
7. Click Send

You can track the 311 request, hopefully the issue is fixed.

Often the problem isn’t resolved, but at least it’s a data point that the city will either have to deal with or now willfully ignore. Above is a selection of 311 service requests for the chronic situation of the Court Square Diner parking their cars on the sidewalk, right next to the steps to the 7 train. At some point there might be a street redesign, but so far it’s been a bit of an uphill battle keeping the cars off the sidewalk.

If the same thing keeps happening, forwarding the 311 service request numbers to your council member and community board, who can get it in front of the right agency. Electeds might not know it’s a problem either, and appreciate the knowledge.

I wish to implore you, however, that just because you make the machine aware of an issue, doesn’t mean that it will be fixed. Sometimes you might have a specific policy proposal to fix this problem. Calibrate your excitement on how quickly the problem might be resolved, since often it’s proportional to how emergent the problem is.

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I hope that this article can sway you why 311 is a useful tool for local governance, even if there are flaws in the system.

If the city doesn’t know there’s a problem, how can they know to fix it? You can be a helper by letting the city (which is just a big collection of people trying to do a good job) know what’s going on.