Who to call if you have problems: a list of useful contacts in New York

In everyday life, various difficulties often arise - from clogged storm drains to the urgent need to change your passport. In such cases, it is important to know who to contact. Should a city council or state representative be contacted, and when is it appropriate to involve a member of Congress? What is 311 and how can it help? The city compiled a list of useful contacts for all occasions.

In New York, it can be difficult to know who to contact if you have a problem. The fact is that both local, state and federal authorities can be held responsible. Sometimes an issue can fall under multiple levels of government at the same time.

If you don't know where to start to solve your problem, start by finding information about who represents your interests, in database, created by the Center for Urban Research at the University of Southern California and the League of Women Voters in New York.

This will at least give you some contact information for your elected officials, which is half the battle. You can also contact your local community council, whose staff is likely to be familiar with a wide range of issues that concern area residents. Each volunteer council has a neighborhood manager who leads the council and meets monthly with representatives from all major city departments to discuss neighborhood issues.

Competence of authorities and peace of mind of residents is the key to success

“The community board manager has direct ties to these agencies,” says John Sanchez, executive director of 5 Borough Housing and former manager of Bronx Community Board 6. “A competent community board manager should be able to refer you to the right agency. But I emphasize “competent” because not all public councils are competent.”

According to experts, this applies to all elected positions. Some Board members have helpful staff, but others don't have enough. Some congressional representatives will have helpful public liaisons, while others will be short-staffed. If you find someone helpful but in the wrong office, ask if they can help you find the right person. Finding the right levers of power can frustrate even the most seasoned New Yorker. But even so, it is always better to “come in relatively calm and ask for help rather than demand action.”

“I certainly understand the righteous indignation in the face of a sprawling and rigid bureaucracy that doesn't meet your needs, but at the end of the day, there's just a person on the other end of the phone trying to pay the rent. Be kind,” he said.

Senior centers and libraries can also help. Find someone who can translate your problem into “government language.” This could be an old-timer, an activist, or the leader of a local community or non-profit organization.

Call 311

Government experts at every level are saying one thing that upset New Yorkers may not want to hear: You should call 311. Why?

First, it creates a “ticket” that serves as a tracking number for an issue that can be traced to all levels of the bureaucracy. “This is simply a way to record what you are complaining about, and any constituent can contact any office—city, state or federal—with a 311 complaint to assist the office in following up with the appropriate agency to monitor the progress of the complaint.” said John Blasko, Congressman Dan Goldman's district director.

Putting your problem on the record makes it much harder for agencies to ignore it. “Agencies like to say, “That’s the first I’ve heard of this.” This is their favorite answer,” says one city council employee. Calling 311 “deprives them of the opportunity to say no one complained about this.”

On the subject: Do not rush to dial 911: what services in New York will help in an emergency

Experts generally say it's better to file a 311 complaint online rather than over the phone because the online system or 311 app allows you to categorize the problem rather than relying on the 311 operator.

Please be aware that public housing residents have their own non-311 complaint system, MyNYCHA, and NYCHA residents must use this when filing complaints.

Complaints received through 311 are also very important for budgeting, experts say. If a problem is identified over and over again, it is easier for an elected official to make the case that money needs to be spent to solve it. “The appropriate agency will only commit resources to an issue if the city's data system shows that there have been X number of complaints or referrals about that particular issue,” Blasko says.

Questions at the Federal level

What are the most common issues in the city that the federal representative's office should address?

• A missing or broken mailbox is the responsibility of USPS.
• Extension or acceleration of obtaining a passport
• Health Issues Related to the 11/XNUMX Victim Compensation Fund
• Problems with federal rental vouchers such as Section 8.
• Tax issues handled by taxpayer counsel before the Internal Revenue Service.
• Immigration issues of all kinds, especially visa problems.

Before you ask a federal agent for help, be aware that in order for them to help you, you will need to sign a non-disclosure form that gives the agent the authority to act on your behalf, Blasko says.

“This is a very important thing that many people don't know about. You can live here, you can live in Chicago, you can be anywhere, even in Washington,” he said. “Every member of Congress, regardless of party affiliation, has a privacy authorization form, and the only way a member of Congress can contact a federal agency with your request is if you authorize it through that member of Congress’s office.”

State-level issues

A state Assembly member or state senator can help with these issues:

• Unemployment issues, payments and registration: State Department of Labor.
• Liquor License Status: State Liquor Authority and local community board.
• Rent Stabilized Issues or Rent History Request: Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
• Problems with subway cars, city buses, stations or service: New York City Transit, a division of the MTA.

Wrong calls about public transit are a perennial problem for city officials, who often have to explain to voters that the MTA is a state agency controlled by the governor, not a city agency.

“It's a statewide thing, but that's why former Mayor Bill de Blasio was yelled at for eight years about the subway not working because people just didn't know,” Coughlin says.

City life

If you are unable to reach an agency, city council members, ward chairmen, or your local community council may be able to help:

• Illegal parking, potholes and street lighting on city streets: Department of Transportation.
• Cleanliness of parks and reservations in public parks for events: Parks Department.
• NYC Connect Affordable Housing Lottery: Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
• Litter, illegal dumping and stray bicycles on public property: Department of Sanitation
• Street Trees: Oddly enough, the trees themselves are the responsibility of the Parks Department, while the empty tree pit is the responsibility of the Department of Transportation. Once the tree is gone, Parks turns over responsibility to the Department of Transportation.
• New School Construction: The New York City School Construction Authority, a state-created agency responsible for the design, construction, and renovation of all public schools in the city.

The most difficult problems

Complex problems are those that relate to a little-known jurisdiction, or require solutions from several agencies, or are simply obviously intractable.

Illegal demolition is the responsibility of the Department of Buildings, but it is very difficult to stop once it has begun. Property owners may claim they didn't know they needed a permit or weren't aware of the existence of a no-demolition zone.

Reports of driver misconduct reported to 311 have a habit of disappearing as soon as they reach the police department.

Noise complaints are made to both the police department and the city Department of Environmental Protection, but illegal noise is very difficult to prove and even more difficult to stop. It is not uncommon for nighttime construction work to be legally permitted by the DOT or DOB and therefore allowed to proceed.

Confusion around special law enforcement departments is a constant phenomenon. The public knows almost nothing about the Office of Special Victims, which focuses on illegal short-term rentals such as Airbnb, or the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, a citywide office that prosecutes drug offenders.

Problems in specially designated “authorities” are resolved by the relevant administrations. These are often semi-commercial organizations created at the state level with varying degrees of efficiency and opacity. There are many of them in New York, most notably the New York City Housing Authority, the Battery Park City Authority, the Roosevelt Island Maintenance Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates three major airports and a bus terminal in Manhattan , major Hudson River Bridges and Tunnels, and PATH trains.