Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Joe Morrisroe

Joe Morrisroe

  • Inside 311, the City’s ‘Front Door’ to Government

    311 HQ pic 2013

    311 in 2013 (photo via the Mayor's Office on Flickr)


    The vast LED board updated in real-time: 36,529 calls since midnight, it said for a late-afternoon moment one August day. Perched in a high-ceilinged room in Lower Manhattan, the board tallied work done and signified work to be done, with numbers jumping every few seconds as the New York City 311 call center buzzed with the steady hum of staff members speaking into headsets.

    “Hello, and thank you for calling NYC 311.”

    “Did you

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