Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 3
Committee: Committee on Technology
The Committee on Technology, chaired by Council Member Carmen N. De La Rosa, held an oversight hearing on New York City's 311 system and heard three bills: Int. 173 (Dinowitz) on using GPS coordinates for 311 service requests, Int. 669 (Deputy Speaker Williams) on referring non-emergency traffic complaints to the NYPD Transportation Bureau, and Int. 800 (Schulman) on redirecting 311 requests to the appropriate agency. Deputy Commissioner Joe Morrisroe of NYC 311 testified that 311 received 37 million customer contacts in 2025, that the budgeted headcount is 248 call center representatives with 53 vacancies, and that an overflow contract with King Teleservices runs through February 28, 2027, with a new solicitation underway. He said the administration agrees a pin-drop location feature would improve 311, deferred to the NYPD on Int. 669, and described work on requests that agencies reassign, which he put at about 1% of service requests. Members questioned the gap between call-center satisfaction ratings and whether problems are actually fixed, along with language access, software update safeguards after the August 2026 911 outage, AI tools, data privacy and retention, and WhatsApp plans. Two members of the public testified; no votes were taken.
0:03 Seated I good afternoon and
0:03 welcome to the New York City
0:13 council hearing for the
0:15 committee on technology at
0:16 this time as a reminder please
0:18 patrol devices on silent at no
0:21 time anyone should approach
0:22 the desk if you wish t
0:25 otestify please see one of the
0:26 sergeant of arms chair you
0:31 begin
0:31 . Good afternoon everyone and
0:33 welcome to our oversight
0:33 hearing on 311 I am council
0:37 member zella Rosa chair of the
0:38 the committee on technology
0:39 and today we will be
0:40 discussing New York city's 311
0:43 system New York 311 is New
0:45 York city's 24 hour seven day
0:48 a week non emergent emergency
0:50 services connecting New York
0:52 er's and visitors with City
0:54 government providing necessary
0:55 information and taking
0:57 complaints launched in 2003 as
1:00 a centralized telephone call
1:01 center through one has evolved
1:02 significantly over the past
1:04 two decades expanding the ways
1:06 in which the public can
1:07 communicate with the City as
1:10 technology and public
1:11 expectations have changed
1:13 today 3 1 1 handles millions
1:16 of interactions each year
1:17 through phone calls text
1:18 messages it's mobile
1:20 application on website
1:21 providing assistance to more
1:22 than a more than 175 languages
1:25 as the largest 311 system in
1:28 the country and why see 311
1:30 plays an essential role in
1:32 making City government more
1:33 accessible and responsive t
1:34 othe people it serves New York
1:36 er's rely on 311 for a broad
1:39 range of issues from questions
1:41 about parking regulation and
1:43 sanitation services to filing
1:45 complaints about heat or hot
1:45 water in their building in
1:47 many instances 3 1 1 serves as
1:50 a starting point for resolving
1:51 an issue by directing a
1:53 complaint to the appropriate
1:55 City agency for action today
1:58 hundred 11 is more than a
1:58 customer service system the
2:01 information generated through
2:01 millions of service requests
2:03 provide an important source of
2:05 data for City agencies elected
2:08 officials researchers
2:08 advocates and members of the
2:09 public through the city's open
2:12 data portal the data can help
2:13 identify patterns and service
2:16 delivery informed discussions
2:17 about allocations of resources
2:19 highlight community needs and
2:21 reveal areas where the City
2:25 May May be improved given the
2:26 central wall of 311 plays in
2:28 the day to day functioning of
2:30 our City we must continually
2:32 examine how the system can be
2:35 improved and modernized
2:36 through 1 1 should serve as a
2:37 tool for accountability and
2:40 communication between New York
2:41 or New York er's and local
2:42 government today we will be
2:45 considering three bills
2:45 intended to improve New York
2:47 City 311 and it's services and
2:50 the services it provides in 1
2:53 73 by Council Member donna
2:54 witz in relation to the use of
2:56 global positioning systems
2:58 coordinates for three on one
2:59 complaints and service
3:01 requests intro 6 6 9 bye
3:06 deputy speaker Williams in
3:07 relation to referring 301
3:10 nonemergency traffic condition e
3:12 transportation bureau of the
3:13 police department and enjoy a
3:15 hundred by Council Member
3:16 showmen requiring the 311
3:18 customer service center t
3:20 oredirect requests for services
3:22 or complaints to the
3:23 appropriate agencies we look
3:24 forward to hearing from the
3:26 administration advocates and
3:27 members of the public about
3:28 these bills as well as broader
3:30 opportunities to make hundred
3:32 1 more resilient accessible
3:34 user friendly and effective
3:35 for all New York er's I'd like
3:36 to thank the committees staff
3:38 policy analyst Eric braun
3:41 legislative council erina baba
3:42 bob and chief of staff James
3:44 burke and heba emad for
3:47 working in and putting this
3:49 hearing together I'd like t
3:52 orecognize technology committee
3:52 members Council Member one
3:54 Gutiérrez and we've also been
3:56 joined by councilmember dina
3:57 wittes and showman I will say
3:59 there are more than 15 other
4:01 bills that were not
4:03 considering today on 311 so
4:05 even though we're light on
4:06 folks today I want to be sure
4:09 to emphasize that 311 is an
4:10 important issue that this
4:13 council cares about
4:13 specifically there's a lot of
4:15 legislation to try and make it
4:16 work a little better I'll now
4:19 turn to Council Member donna
4:20 witz to deliver his opening
4:22 remarks a and also reached we
4:23 weren't sure who you going t
4:24 ocall first oh I'm sorry
4:26 . Thank you chair ah for for
4:29 the hearing and for hearing um e
4:34 face in our City the one that
4:35 rises to the top time and
4:37 again is is quality of life
4:39 and I'm often reminded of this
4:42 because during covid during
4:44 the height of when there was
4:45 fear surrounding all of us and
4:47 I was doing before I was in
4:48 office doing wellness calls t
4:49 oour older adults I started at
4:51 these calls expecting to hear
4:54 the tragic stories of people
4:56 losing loved ones being afraid
4:57 to go out to get eggs and milk
5:00 and the vast majority of my
5:03 calls really were about
5:04 quality of life were about the
5:06 noise or about the cracks in
5:07 the sidewalk they wanted to g
5:08 oout for a walk and the cracks
5:10 in the sidewalks were
5:12 preventing them from safely
5:14 doing that you know illegal
5:16 dumping places that so know I
5:18 think about this because at
5:20 the height of one fear and
5:22 death was permanent permeating
5:24 our City quality of life still
5:26 rose to the top as is critical
5:29 issue for many New York er's
5:32 and quality of life speaks t
5:34 oour ability to live with
5:36 safety and with dignity in our
5:37 own in our own City streets
5:40 rife with rife with potholes
5:41 hydrants that are running and
5:43 wasting water darkened streets
5:45 due to brooklyn broken street
5:46 lamps flooded homes due t
5:48 oblock sewer lines broken
5:49 fences in our parks these are
5:52 just some of the quality of
5:53 life issues that will not
5:55 address due impact that safety
5:57 and quality of life and
5:58 dignity that we cherish so
6:00 much here in New York City of
6:02 course we have 311 a system
6:03 through which New York er's
6:05 can report and address our
6:06 quality of life concerns but
6:08 we know 300 and is in need of
6:10 improvement today we are
6:12 discussing my bill intro
6:14 hundred 73 which will require
6:17 300 one to use data to
6:19 pinpoint exactly where a
6:20 constituent wants to report
6:21 their issue time and again
6:23 constituents call my office
6:25 because 3 1 1 was used but the
6:27 City agency either couldn't
6:29 find a location or went to the
6:32 wrong location we had a
6:35 missing hydrant reported but
6:35 deep e p repaired a separate
6:37 hydrant down the block on a
6:39 service road in my district a
6:41 constituent was unable to file
6:42 a 3 2 1 complaint because the
6:45 stretches on the service road
6:46 have no street address lights
6:49 on an overpass and my district
6:51 were out because there was no
6:52 address on the overpass the
6:55 constituent called 3 1 1
6:56 instead of using the the
6:58 report was logged manually and
7:00 three months later the lights
7:01 were still out and when there
7:03 was follow up done we
7:05 fixed because the location
7:09 could not be found a
7:12 constituent who reported a
7:13 blocked sewer line had to
7:15 describe it as a hundred feet
7:17 from his house toward the
7:18 direction of the sewer plant
7:19 which is hardly an efficient
7:21 way to describe a location
7:23 bell tower park in riverdale
7:23 had a broken sidewalk and the
7:26 constituent had to use the
7:27 nearest address which isn't
7:29 really close to this bell
7:30 tower there are obviously more
7:33 cases in my office alone each
7:34 of us in the council has dealt
7:37 with similar issues countless
7:39 New yorkers who haven't called
7:40 our offices have dealt with
7:41 this issue time and again as
7:43 newyorker York er's we deserve
7:46 a more responsive and
7:47 efficient experience with our
7:49 government if 311 is the
7:51 vehicle by which New York er's
7:52 address their quality of life
7:53 concerns we must ensure that
7:55 it is as efficient and
7:57 responsive to the needs of our
7:59 constituents as possible
8:02 adding precise location
8:04 ability would allow for that
8:06 to happen intro 1 73 would
8:08 allow for that to happen thank
8:11 you chair thank you and now I
8:13 turn over to Council Member
8:15 for her opening remarks thank
8:17 you chair De La Rosa today I'm
8:21 here to speak in support of my
8:22 bill intro 800 this
8:25 legislation would create a
8:26 clearer more transparent way
8:27 to track complaints about
8:28 conditions in our City jails
8:30 currently when someone in a
8:32 City jail has a complaint
8:33 about the conditions of their
8:34 confinement there is not a
8:36 clear public facing system but
8:38 tracking that complaint from
8:40 submission through resolution
8:42 without that transparency can
8:43 be difficult to know whether a
8:46 complaint was received.
8:47 Whether it was referred t
8:48 othe appropriate personnel or
8:48 whether the underlying issue
8:50 was ultimately addressed my
8:51 legislation would require the
8:53 department of information
8:55 technology and
8:56 telecommunications t
8:57 oestablish a dedicated 311
8:59 service request category for
9:00 complaints and service
9:02 requests related to conditions
9:03 and City jails would also
9:05 require the City to publish
9:06 records of those requests and
9:08 provide updates on their
9:10 status this legislation is
9:12 fundamentally about
9:13 accountability a transparent
9:14 system for receiving and
9:16 tracking complaints can help
9:17 identify recurring problems
9:19 ensure that concerns are
9:20 directed to the appropriate
9:21 personnel and provide the
9:22 public with greater visibility
9:23 and how these issues are being
9:26 addressed everyone in our City
9:26 deserves to be treated with
9:28 dignity including people who
9:30 are incarcerated I believe
9:31 this legislation is an
9:33 important step toward greater
9:35 transparency and
9:35 accountability and toward
9:36 ensuring that our City jails
9:37 are humane and inhabitable
9:40 thank you thanks thank you
9:42 councilmember shulman I will
9:43 now read a statement on behalf
9:45 of deputy speaker dr natasha
9:47 Williams thank you chair De La
9:49 Rosa and members of the
9:50 committee on technology for
9:51 the opportunity to submit
9:53 testimony on intro 6 6 9
9:54 . New York er's rely on 301 as
9:56 the primary point of contact
9:58 with City government when
10:00 residents take the time t
10:01 oreport a concern they should
10:02 have the confidence that the
10:03 complaint will reach the
10:04 agency position to respond in
10:06 southeast queens traffic
10:08 concerns are among the issues
10:10 residents raised with my
10:11 office regularly we hear about
10:13 chronic speeding on
10:14 residential streets illegal
10:15 truck traffic dangerous
10:17 driving congestion and other
10:19 conditions that affect both
10:19 quality of life and public
10:21 safety many of these are not
10:24 isolated incidents they are
10:25 recurring problems that
10:26 residents experience day after
10:28 day in true 669 would require
10:30 and why c 3 1 1 2 refer non
10:34 emergency traffic complaints
10:35 complaints nypd transportation
10:37 bureau this includes
10:38 complaints involving drag
10:40 racing chronic speeding
10:42 congestion gridlock truck
10:43 route violations and other non
10:45 emergency traffic conditions
10:46 the goal is simple when New
10:47 York er's report a traffic
10:49 concern that complaint should
10:50 have a clear path to an agency
10:53 responsible for addressing it
10:54 residents should not have t
10:56 orepeatedly report the same
10:58 condition without
10:58 understanding where the
10:59 complaint is going or whether
11:01 appropriate agency has
11:01 received it 311 should be more
11:04 than a system that generates
11:06 service request numbers it
11:07 should help residents navigate
11:09 City government help agencies
11:10 identify recurring conditions
11:11 and create a clearer
11:13 connection between a complaint
11:14 and a City response.
11:16 Better routing is an
11:17 important part of making the
11:19 system more useful and
11:20 accountable I look forward t
11:22 ohearing from the
11:22 administration about how
11:24 traffic related complaints are
11:25 currently handled through 311
11:27 where gaps exist and how the
11:28 City can improve coordination
11:31 when residents report
11:31 recurring traffic conditions I
11:33 thank the chair and the
11:35 committee for for hearing
11:37 intro 690 for examining how we
11:39 make 3 1 1 more responsive and
11:42 effective for all New York
11:43 er's in service dr natasha
11:46 Williams we thank our deputy
11:47 speaker for her statement and
11:49 today we will hear testimony
11:51 from the office of technology
11:54 and innovation followed by
11:55 testimonies from the public
11:56 eye now want to welcome joel
11:59 more morrisroe morris rope
12:01 deputy commissioner for 3 1 1
12:02 good good
12:05 . Good begin I just kindly
12:09 want a request you to raise
12:11 your right hand do you affirm
12:15 to tell the truth and respond
12:16 honestly to council members
12:17 questions thank you you can't
12:20 start your testimony
12:21 . Thank you good afternoon
12:24 Rosa and members of the City
12:27 council committee on
12:27 technology my name is joe
12:28 morrisroe and I am the deputy
12:30 commissioner of New York City
12:31 301 over the last 20 years I
12:33 have overseen New York City
12:35 301 s transformation from a
12:37 call center to the multi
12:39 channel multi lingual platform
12:40 that it is today I'm pleased
12:42 to join the committee today t
12:44 odiscuss our operations
12:45 highlight our recent successes
12:48 and discuss today's proposed
12:50 legislation as you know and my
12:54 3 311 government services and
12:55 information with the highest
12:56 possible level of customer
12:57 service three on one is
12:59 available 24 hours a day seven
13:01 days a week 305 days a year
13:04 through multiple channels
13:05 including the call center
13:08 online portal text mobile
13:09 application and social media
13:12 originally launched as a call
13:12 center New York City 3 1 1 has
13:15 evolved into the most
13:17 comprehensive municipal
13:18 government customer service
13:19 platform in the nation through
13:22 3 1 1 received 37 millio