Dinowitz presents Intro 173 and examples of 311 location failures
Dinowitz introduces Intro 173 to require GPS pin-drop location for 311 complaints, citing a missing hydrant repaired down the block, an unaddressed service road, and overpass lights unfixed because location could not be found.
Today we are discussing my bill, Intro 173, which will require 311 to use GPS data to pinpoint exactly where a constituent wants to report their issue.
Time and again, constituents call my office because 311 was used, but the city agency either couldn't find a location or went to the wrong location.
We had a missing hydrant reported, but DEP repaired a separate hydrant down the block.
On a service road in my district, a constituent was unable to file a 3-in-1 complaint because the stretches on the service road have no street address.
Lights on an overpass in my district were out.
Because there was no address on the overpass, the constituent called 311 instead of using the app.
The report was logged manually, and three months later, the lights were still out.
And when there was follow-up done, we eventually were given the response that the lights weren't fixed because the location could not be found.
A constituent who reported a blocked sewer line had to describe it as 100 feet from his house toward the direction of the sewer plant, which is hardly an efficient way to describe a location.
Bell Tower Park in Riverdale had a broken sidewalk and the constituent had to use the nearest address, which isn't really close to this bell tower.