Justice Data Brief: Understanding New York City’s 311 Data

This report provides information on the frequency of different types of complaints that are made to New York City’s 311 system, highlights what 311 data can (and cannot) tell us about the concerns and priorities of New Yorkers, and examines the challenges in using calls to measure social disorder. This brief is one of DCJ’s Justice Data and Research Briefs, which provide succinct and accessible overviews of key trends and findings from our research on communities, courts and confinement.

Key Findings:

• The number of 311 calls for service in New York City has increased every year since 2012.
• In 2018, New Yorkers made nearly 2.7 million requests for service via 311. The majority of these were related to the conditions of buildings, public space, and noise.
• Less than 2% of calls made in 2018 were related to “social disorder”, most of which were calls for homelessness or graffiti.
• Drug activity, disorderly youth, public drinking, and urinating in public accounted for less than 0.2% of all calls in 2018.