The city recommends that residents contact 311 for non-emergency services, such as reporting a broken streetlight. However, it doesn't mean a solution will appear in a timely fashion: A long article NY Times features one man's year-plus- one-day quest for the city to repair a streetlight on East 96th in Manhattan.

Martin Daniels's first call about a streetlight near 65 East 96th Street was on January 22, 2007 and he documented his calls in a diary:

It grew to four pages; excerpts read like a study in despair.

He called Con Ed. “Phone message said 20-minute wait — I hung up,” one entry reads. He called the office of City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito and was referred to Community Board 11. “Already did — matter unresolved,” he noted with apparent dismay. “Also, told her how 311 does not work. Always say fixed when not fixed and treat it as a new complaint.”

Read the article for more of the issues—the streetlight had some more extensive electricity issues. Daniels, who is a "confessed nudnik" (he calls city officials "dozens of times a year...about local irritants from the lack of sidewalk curb cuts to accommodate wheelchairs to a mound of asphalt left on a sidewalk"), tells the Times, "I may be a pain, but I want these things done. If you walk on the street, you want to be safe.” He and his wife have since moved downtown; Daniels waxed about his old street, "To tell you the truth, it’s north of 96th Street. That’s the end of the story. We’re at the very beginning of East Harlem and with rats running around; they don’t care if there’s a light out.”


The Department of Transportation spokesman Seth Solomonow said, "Most streetlights are repaired within three days of being reported to 311. And while we work hard to keep each of the city’s 333,000 streetlights lit, a lifetime on the street can take its toll, requiring more than just a replacement bulb to fix.” Some other instances of 311 in questionable action: Many Queens residents called 311 about the 2006 blackout (city officials initially dismissed the severity); a Turtle Bay resident called 311 to complain about an improperly bolted crane (the crane later collapsed and killed seven people); and it took four years to figure out the maple syrup smell is from NJ (or is it).