REMARKS
Council Member Robert Holden's opening remarks on improving New York City's 311 service
0:09:52
·
3 min
Council Member Robert Holden expresses gratitude and introduces his experience as a regular user of the New York City 311 service, highlighting the need for improvements.
- He presents a package of bills aimed at enhancing the 311 system
- One bill addresses reporting illegal towing activities through 311
- Another bill simplifies the process of submitting service requests and complaints
- A third bill ensures transparency from agencies when they cannot respond to requests
- Holden emphasizes making the 311 system more responsive, transparent, and user-friendly
- He encourages constituents to use the improved 311 app while noting remaining issues
Robert Holden
0:09:52
Thank you for your time.
0:09:53
And my fellow council members.
0:09:55
Today, I I come before you, not only as a council member, but also as a regular user of our 311 service.
0:10:03
I I use it all every day multiple times.
0:10:06
So I know I've been using it for years, and I know what it needs to to really work much better.
0:10:13
And I I have some suggestions and you'll see you're hearing some bills.
0:10:16
This system serves as a critical link between the city's residents and the services that our government offers.
0:10:24
It is essential that we continued to refine and improve this vital service to ensure it meets the needs of all New Yorkers effectively and efficiently.
0:10:33
The package of bills we are discussing today, you know, including my bills, intro 602, A-twenty and A-twenty two represents a significant step toward achieving some some of these goals that are gonna be mentioned today.
0:10:47
602 Intro602 addresses a very specific yet impactful issue, illegal towing.
0:10:55
And we created the the City of New York created the DAR program, d a r p, and Roto, to really stop chasing by these tow trucks.
0:11:05
They run red lights, they go down one way streets, and they jeopardize the public.
0:11:11
They're still going on.
0:11:13
They're still they're still chasing.
0:11:14
There's a lot of towing companies that are are really rogue companies.
0:11:20
That means they're not participating in these programs.
0:11:23
So so they chase.
0:11:25
So we have to start enabling New Yorkers to report illegal towing activities directly through the 311 system.
0:11:32
And it's not being done and submit photographic or video evidence.
0:11:37
We are enhancing accountability and providing our citizens with the tools they need.
0:11:42
To protect their property and, of course, their rights.
0:11:46
Intro a 20 simplifies the process of submitting service requests and complaints.
0:11:51
It's just four steps.
0:11:53
This is crucial to making a 311 system more accessible to you and user friendly in encouraging more people to utilize it confidently.
0:12:01
Lastly, 822 ensures transparency and accountability when an agency cannot respond to the request.
0:12:08
Right now, especially with the police department, if they don't if they don't handle it within 8 hours, They say no action was taken and it doesn't give a specific reason why they didn't fix the problem.
0:12:21
And that's essentially upsets more New Yorkers, especially me.
0:12:25
When I report a car parked at a hydrant and the cops tell us it's not there when they or they took action to fix the problem, that's not being honest.
0:12:35
And that's why we that's why a 22 is so important.
0:12:38
So by requiring agency to provide proof of action and making these responses visible to the free one system, we are building trust and ensuring no requests is ignored.
0:12:51
Together, these bills make our 311 system more responsive, transparent, and easier to use.
0:12:57
As soon as someone who regularly use, you know, as someone who regularly uses 311, I understand the frustrations that can arise.
0:13:06
And I encourage By the way, I encourage all my constituents to use the app.
0:13:09
The app is great.
0:13:10
It's been enhanced.
0:13:12
It's been fixed up.
0:13:12
It's a little bit more complicated, but it's it works.
0:13:16
But there's things that when I use it, certainly and we talked about it many times about pinpointing your exact location that still doesn't do that very well.
0:13:25
So we need to work on it.
0:13:26
Thank you, chair.
0:13:27
Thank you for this hearing.
0:13:28
This is Really, very, very important hearing.
0:13:31
Thank you.
