311 Is a Joke

brooke lynn knight

So on Saturday afternoon, the neighbors in the back yard that abuts ours had a loud barbecue party. Kind of annoying, but a reasonable use of a back yard, I think. But as afternoon turned into evening, the music kept getting louder and louder and dozens of people were shrieking and yelling and screeching. It was really an unbelievable din. We tried calling the neighbors but they didn't answer the phone -- probably couldn't hear it over the racket. At 10 we finally, reluctantly called 311 and made a complaint. Nothing happened, of course. We called again. No result. We called the 78th precinct and the phone rang and rang and rang and nobody ever picked up. Finally, at about 12:30, as the party continued to get insanely louder, and it was clear that it was full of drunk teenagers, we called 911 to report the riotous underage drinking party. At 1:00, the music and noise abruptly stopped. I assume the cops shut them down -- something sure did.

On Sunday afternoon, we called 311 to follow up on what had been done with our complaint. Get this:

After we reported the noise at 10:30 PM, an officer drove by at 8 AM and did not observe a noise situation, so the complaint was closed without action! What the hell? The person on the phone didn't seem to think that was odd, and seemed to think we were in the wrong for thinking that a 10:30 noise complaint should be investigated before 8:00 the next morning.

To add insult to injury -- or more likely, absurdity to assholery -- we called the neighbors on Sunday afternoon to ask them please to keep their parties quieter in the wee hours. They denied that they had thrown the party, or that there ever was a party! Oh, how interesting. Our property adjoins theirs and we could see the bright lights and yard and house teeming with people right from our windows, in addition to the music blasting. There is literally no chance that we got the house wrong.

Some days it seems like every other post on this board is a complaint about noise. And "people" like these neighbors are the reason why. :evil:

daver

Speaking of which:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201823.html

That is pretty funny (er, _bad_ funny) about the 8am check for a party reported at 10:30pm. WTF, over.

shishkab

that story is absurd, BLK! not you, but fact that a noise complaint can be investigated 8-1/2 hours after the fact and the city considers that good follow-up. ridiculous! and what's offensive to me about the situation is that you did the right thing, called 311 instead of 911 (to keep the lines open for emergencies, so the city story goes), yet you were still forced to call 911 two hours later. what's the point of the 311 system if it doesn't work the way it's supposed to? urgh.

daver

shishkab wrote: that story is absurd, BLK! not you, but fact that a noise complaint can be investigated 8-1/2 hours after the fact and the city considers that good follow-up.

Banned, for subtracting 10:30pm from 8am and getting 8-1/2 hours.

shishkab wrote: and what's offensive to me about the situation is that you did the right thing, called 311 instead of 911 (to keep the lines open for emergencies, so the city story goes), yet you were still forced to call 911 two hours later. what's the point of the 311 system if it doesn't work the way it's supposed to? urgh.

And let me add, the fact that the phone wasn't answered at all at the precinct is disturbing as well. So, are we fully feeling the pressure of the lack of personnel or what?

shishkab

daver wrote:
Banned, for subtracting 10:30pm from 8am and getting 8-1/2 hours.

i was accounting for... er.... um... daylight savings. yeah, that's it. daylight savings! :oops:

daver wrote: And let me add, the fact that the phone wasn't answered at all at the precinct is disturbing as well.

no doubt. i was hoping BLK dialed the wrong number (wishful thinking?).

pitu

daver wrote:
And let me add, the fact that the phone wasn't answered at all at the precinct is disturbing as well. So, are we fully feeling the pressure of the lack of personnel or what?

no kidding.

Just wanted to add, 311 is not a total joke. I've had good results from 311 on things that weren't as time sensitive as the above, like a dangerous construction site. I bet they'd do better with a noise complaint from say, a nightclub with a nightly measurable off the the charts sound system (thump thump thump) than with a one-off where you just want the cops to bang on the door and tell 'em to keep it down already.

Of course you could always give them feedback on your complaint # . . .
wonder if you can do that by email?