REMARKS
Council Member Eric Dinowitz presents three bills to improve city services and quality of life
0:15:24
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4 min
Council Member Eric Dinowitz presents three bills aimed at improving city services and quality of life in New York City. He discusses legislation to provide bicycle storage in city buildings, prevent automatic closure of duplicate 311 requests, and implement customer satisfaction surveys for 311 services.
- Intro 162 would require certain city-owned buildings to provide bicycle storage for employees and visitors.
- Intro 744 would prohibit agencies from closing 311 requests solely because they are duplicates.
- Intro 587 would require 311 to conduct customer satisfaction surveys and publish quarterly agency report cards.
Eric Dinowitz
0:15:24
Thank you, chair wrestler.
0:15:26
It's great to be here at the gov ops hearing.
0:15:28
Today, we are discussing 3 bills related to our quality of life here in New York City.
0:15:34
I first wanna thank chair wrestler and members of the committee for hearing this legislation.
0:15:41
I remember the the first time a student I was I was teaching the post schools, and a student wanted to bike to school.
0:15:47
I was a high school student, and I thought it was a great thing.
0:15:50
Unfortunately, for that student, In order for him to bike to school, I needed to meet him downstairs, and we needed to figure out a way to get his bicycle in to the building, and then figure out a way for him to store that bicycle.
0:16:04
Also, he he could do what we want so many of our students to do, and that's bike to school.
0:16:11
And that's not too different from so many municipal workers who just want a bike to work.
0:16:15
But for the fact that they have no place to put their bicycle during the day, So intro 162, introduced in collaboration with council member Marte, would require that certain city owned buildings of at least 10,000 square feet or more in size, would provide bicycle storage space for employees or visitors.
0:16:34
Providing so that our municipal workers and visitors could exercise their that ability to have alternate means of transportation.
0:16:43
And at a time when we are encouraging people to get out of the cars and use alternate modes of transportation, The city should be at the forefront of allowing them to do that.
0:16:54
Introduction 744 would prohibit government agencies for closing out 311 service requests solely because they've been identified as duplicates of previous rewoven requests.
0:17:07
At my office, we often receive calls from several constituents impacted by the same issue, whether it's that same pothole, the party's going in my district, the party's going on, Jerome may Avenue, excessive noise.
0:17:21
This bill aims to ensure that everyone can feel the confidence that our city agencies are listening to our community members, and 301 complaints should not be deleted because they're multiples.
0:17:32
We wanna understand that multiple complaints might mean that the issue has wide impact and needs earlier intervention by our agencies.
0:17:41
And lastly, this is something I think so many New Yorkers have experienced.
0:17:45
They've gone to the 311 app They've complained about the pothole.
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They've complained about excessive noise.
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They complained about water fountains not working, trash, graffiti.
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Only to look at their phone again and to see that the complaint was closed.
0:18:00
Not solved, not resolved, closed.
0:18:03
This happens all the time.
0:18:05
We we get so many complaints about this.
0:18:07
So introduction 587 would require the 301 customer service center to conduct customer satisfaction surveys after each individual call is deemed closed and to publish quarterly agency report cards, illustrating the satisfaction and resolution rates of each agency along with the number of cases and the complaint type that each agency handles.
0:18:31
We rely on 311.
0:18:33
They are it is the portal through which our constituents get the government services they need, and the quality of life that they deserve.
0:18:45
And they should have the ability to provide feedback to the government agencies and feedback to the council so we can provide proper oversight.
0:18:53
So we can ensure that our city agencies are doing what they're supposed to do.
0:18:57
The 301 service center is working the way it's supposed to.
0:19:01
And all these combined will drastically improve the quality of life of our of of our constituents of New Yorkers.
0:19:08
I wanna once again thank chair wrestler and the members of the committee for the opportunity to speak about my bills.
0:19:15
And to hear the bills today, introduction is 162, 587, and 744.
0:19:21
And for a chance to discuss together an area where we all agree that the creation of a more open and efficient city government for the constituents that we serve is power is of power mount importance in this city.
