In a revealing new data dashboard, residents of New York City have found confirmation for suspicions they’ve held for years — city agencies are falling short when it comes to addressing 311 complaints.
Hell’s Kitchen resident Jehiah Czebotar has turned this frustration into action, launching a public tool that grades agencies based on citizen satisfaction with their responses to service requests.
The results are sobering. Between March and May 2025, only 28% of those who filed over 840,000 service requests expressed satisfaction with the city’s follow-through, a clear failing grade that Czebotar does not hesitate to label as an ‘F’ for frustration.
Czebotar, a dedicated data advocate and civic technologist, has battled for years to access the city’s 311 satisfaction data.
“I first tried to get a copy of the 311 survey information back in 2018,” he said, emphasizing the challenges he faced.
After another Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request in 2023, the tide finally changed with the implementation of Local Law 13 of 2025, which made the data public.
Having the data available has allowed Czebotar to scrutinize the performance of city agencies, highlighting both successes and shortcomings.
While the Department of Finance managed to secure an ‘A’ grade, the lack of recent 311 service requests renders this achievement less impactful.
In stark contrast, the Department of Sanitation, which handled more than 83,000 complaints during the same quarter, received a mediocre ‘C.’ Many other agencies — including the NYPD, Buildings, Parks, and Education — languished at the bottom of the grading scale with ‘F’s, driven by high rates of dissatisfaction and poor resolution outcomes.
Czebotar points to illegal parking complaints as a particularly telling example of systemic failure.
“Only 10% of illegal parking reports result in a summons,” he noted, criticizing police reluctance in parking enforcement.
He likened the NYPD’s discretionary approach to a health inspector’s ability to ignore violations, calling for more accountability.
On a more positive note, Czebotar shared that satisfaction rates soared to 80% when the NYPD did take action and issued summonses.
This illustrates the potential for simple enforcement to rebuild trust with the community.
However, he acknowledges that expectations of city services can sometimes outpace what is feasible.
“I want a tree planted tomorrow!” he exclaimed, suggesting room for improvement in how the city manages public expectations regarding their requests.
Czebotar’s report card does more than criticize; it offers a roadmap for reform.
He advocates for agencies to include photos of completed work as evidence of follow-up responses and to identify the city employees handling cases to enhance accountability.
Even basic information like employee IDs and titles could greatly improve transparency for residents, according to Czebotar.
He believes the satisfaction scores from his ‘report card’ should factor into performance evaluations at City Hall.
“Agencies today primarily focus on response time metrics — we should also include the quality of those responses,” he declared.
He insists that these satisfaction surveys should earn a place in the Mayor’s Management Report, integrating public sentiment into agency evaluations.
In Hell’s Kitchen, Czebotar witnesses firsthand the fallout from inaction by city agencies.
“I’ve filed hundreds of reports of cars parked on sidewalks or blocking pedestrian ramps,” he explained.
More often than not, the responses are underwhelming.
He recounted watching police ticket a vehicle with a covered license plate without addressing the core issues.
Despite the challenges, Czebotar’s determination endures.
Beyond his work with 311, he developed Intro.NYC, a transparency tool for tracking New York City legislation.
He’s delved into traffic data, revealing how drivers repeatedly rack up the same camera violations without repercussions.
“I aim to leverage open data to help people understand what’s really happening in this city,” he stated.
He emphasizes that this effort extends beyond merely filing complaints; it’s about fostering accountability.
Czebotar is not alone in his quest to turn personal frustration into civic improvement.
In 2024, another tech-savvy New Yorker, software engineer Andy Kutruff, harnessed AI to capture over 5,000 incidents of illegal cycling on sidewalks near his apartment.
Despite submitting detailed analysis along with his findings to 311, his insights were largely disregarded by city authorities.
“It serves as definitive evidence that the 311 system is not working,” Kutruff remarked at the time, echoing Czebotar’s sentiments.
Together, these stories reflect a growing movement of civic-minded technologists striving to ensure that the systems are more effective and responsive to public needs.
The NYC 311 Report Card, now publicly accessible and updated quarterly, is a clear manifestation of this grassroots effort.
Czebotar explained, “This is data the city already collects. I’m simply making it usable — and perhaps uncomfortable enough that change will occur.”
image source from：https://w42st.com/post/f-is-for-frustration-new-311-report-cards-nyc-agencies-failing/
