City residents called 3-1-1 over 19 million times

Queens residents know they can turn to 3-1-1 if they have any complaints or questions regarding city services.
In 2010, the city’s 3-1-1 Call Center received a total of 19,693,572 calls from people living, working or visiting the city. In the Queens alone, the total number of service requests filed in Queens was approximately 548,000, according to the city’s Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT), which oversees 3-1-1. The 3-1-1 service allows New Yorkers to get government information, report problems, and request services from city agencies.
The top three complaints filed in the borough in 2010 were landlord maintenance complaints with 54,452 calls; street light conditions with 39,799 calls and heating complaints with 28,830 calls.
Louise Seeley, executive director of Housing Court Answers, a service of The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, Inc., said tenants should complain to their landlord about any deteriorating conditions in writing and send the letter through certified mail. If that doesn’t work, tenants should keep calling 3-1-1 to complain.
“Tenants really need to be persistent,” Seeley said.
The city’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (HPD) responded to some of those complaints by sending out an inspector and issuing violations. If an owner failed to correct hazardous conditions, HPD’s Emergency Repair Program sometimes repaired the condition and billed the owner for the repairs.
The fourth complaints were street conditions with 24,290 calls. The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) responded to complaints about broken, defective or fallen street lights, as well as potholes, cave-ins, and manhole covers, among others.
Residents also called 3-1-1 to complain about the water system with 23,997 calls. And they called about problems with sewers with 22,223 calls. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) handled those complaints.
Among other top services requests were information about CFC Recovery (23,240), complaints about residential noise (22,189), blocked driveway (20,446) and damaged tree (20,292).
The 3-1-1 service is also available online through 3-1-1 Online. The web site’s visitors can also use Twitter, a free social messaging service, to “tweet” information about alternate side of the street parking status, school closures, citywide events, and more. For more information, visit: www.nyc.gov/3-1-1 or call 3-1-1.