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And The 5 Dumbest 311 Calls EVER Are...

By

Marc Yearsley

Published Mar 11, 2013

Modified Mar 11, 2013

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Marc Yearsley/Gothamist

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By

Marc Yearsley

Published Mar 11, 2013

Modified Mar 11, 2013

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This morning, Mayor Bloomberg swung by the offices of the NYC 311 call center in Lower Manhattan to celebrate the number's 10th anniversary. In March 2003, two years into his first term, Bloomberg unveiled the ambitious call center, which consolidated 40 of New York City's disparate and disconnected call centers and 11 pages of government listings—along with their own separate unions, pay scales and structures—uniting them in one building, one number.

Unsurprisingly, over the past decade noise complaints have been the number one cause of complaint. Roughly 2.59 million noise complaints have been logged, and at least one of those calls came from a woman who dialed 311 about a noise coming from her refrigerator. According to Bloomberg, other priceless 311 calls include:

Other fun facts: The most calls handled in one day was 276,827, during a snowstorm on January 27th, 2011. And more people called 311 in the last 10 years than the number of people who attended all NYC pro sports teams (and the U.S. Open) combined in the ten years. Indeed, New Yorkers have been encouraged to call 311 for everything except for emergencies—and they do, dialing 311 with questions and complaints on everything from parking tickets, public transportation schedules, anti-smoking resources, tax questions, and small business services.

During Hurricane Sandy, 311 fielded over 220,000 calls in one day and over 1.3 million in the week following. Bloomberg pointed out that overall satisfaction for NYC 311 surpasses all call centers, even in the private sector. The mayor also pointed out that 311 shares this information with local computer developers and technology industries "to spur development." Something to think about next time you call to find out what time the Mayan apocalypse happens.

In 10 years, NYC 311 has fielded over 158 million calls (available in 180 languages). 85% of those calls have been answered and resolved in 30 seconds or less. Wondering why the Empire State Building is yellow tonight? No need to call 311—it's FOR 311.

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mayor bloomberg

mike bloomberg

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Marc Yearsley

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