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New 311 Service Map Shows Us How Much We Complain
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 16, 2011
Modified Feb 16, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 16, 2011
Modified Feb 16, 2011
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Our city government really is serious about joining the Information Age! Hot on the heels of their announcement about a pothole Tumblr, the city unveiled a new 311 Service Request map. It's a good map, and thorough. The website is packed with location-specific information about 311 complaints across 15 major categories, including air and water quality, construction, noise, quality of life, snow, streets and sidewalks, transit and parking. The city says it's updated with new complaints every 24 hours, so we immediately checked to see if yesterday's syringe-apalooza made it upon the big board.
And lo and behold, there it is for the world to see! Well, sort of. It looks like whoever had the unenviable task of going to clean up the syringes couldn't find them, or somebody else snatched them up before the Sanitation workers could get there. You've got to act lively if you want your free needles! According to the website, the last message to the complainer was "The Department of Sanitation investigated this complaint and found no condition at the location."
"While available to the public for years, 311 complaint data has only been systematically disaggregated at the zip code, community board and City Council district level," says the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) announcement. "Now, within 24 hours of complaint filing, the Service Request map will display all open and recently-closed service requests with current status, and message to the customer provided by the servicing agency, at the address level."
The map has lots of layers too; you can select various options that show bike racks, water fountains, wifi, bike lanes, post offices, public pools, day care centers and even art galleries. The only thing missing is Tasti D-Lite locations. (We're calling 311 to complain.)
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311 service request map
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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