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Q&A
Public complaint mechanisms for reporting syringe litter
0:31:35
ยท
96 sec
Council Member Linda Lee inquires about the mechanisms available for the public to report syringe litter. Rebecca Linn-Walton explains the process for reporting and addressing syringe litter complaints.
- The public is advised to call 311 to report syringe litter
- Complaints are directed to appropriate departments: Sanitation for public spaces, Parks for park areas
- The health department website provides information on safe reporting procedures
- Complaint data is used to inform decision-making and resource allocation
- Outreach teams were created in response to complaint patterns
- The department maintains regular communication with SSPs to address emerging issues
Linda Lee
0:31:35
Yes.
0:31:36
So what mechanisms exist for the public to make complaints to the city about the presence of excess syringe litter in public spaces?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
0:31:43
Yes.
0:31:43
Absolutely.
0:31:44
So we also list on our health department website, please don't pick up any syringes.
0:31:48
We don't want who hasn't been trained to get hurt.
0:31:51
So you should call 311.
0:31:52
And then if it's in a public space, it goes to sanitation.
0:31:55
If it's in parks, it goes to parks.
0:31:57
But they also talk to us on a regular basis.
0:31:59
And if they say, hey, we're seeing an uptick of complaints that's how the outreach teams came to be.
0:32:04
And so we're really trying to work together to filter that into our decisions at a city level.
Linda Lee
0:32:10
Okay and then once you find that there's a like let's just say you tracked the data for 311 calls and found that there were a number of cases coming in from specific neighborhoods, how then would you address that moving forward?
0:32:25
Is it something where you would then ask the SSPs hey can you guys pay more attention to this area and get them involved I'm assuming?
0:32:30
We
Rebecca Linn-Walton
0:32:31
have weekly contact with them, could be a text even saying hey we're hearing an uptick in this area and we send an OSL team out.
0:32:39
We were doing a walk through with an elected recently and there was an issue on the street and one of our SSPs had already responded on the street to the individual to help provide them support.
0:32:50
So we're constantly in contact with both our community providers because we know that sometimes you don't want a government official coming to talk to you or a government employee coming to talk to you, a peer, and maybe they don't know I have lived experience, but they want a peer on the street coming to talk to them.
0:33:05
And so that's key to it.
0:33:06
So we're constantly in contact figuring out what is the issue and then how to respond to it.