311 Rings Up Caller Number 50,000,000

Mayor Bloomberg's first public appearance before the media after his change in party affiliation was disclosed came at a press conference June 20 in the headquarters of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to announce that 311 had gotten its 50-millionth call that morning.

PAUL J. COSGRAVE: Keep calling his number.

The call had been taken 2-1/2 hours before the Mayor spoke to reporters by LaNet Holman, who appeared at his side along with DoITT Commissioner Paul Cosgrave. The historic caller had sought information about how to open a day-care center; there was no word on whether the city would provide part of the funding as a prize.

Gives City a Gauge

Mr. Bloomberg said the 311 system exemplified the notion of servicing the public while also offering a valuable gauge to government officials as to "whether we are allocating resources correctly."

Commissioner Cosgrave noted that the most frequent subject of callers was noise, followed by complaints about lack of heat or hot water, information about how to pay parking tickets, how to dispose of air-conditioners, and requests for bus and subway information.

Asked whether he had ever called the system to register a complaint, Mr. Bloomberg said that he once had reported trash strewn in a vacant lot. The woman handling the call took the location and then asked for his name so that she could get back to him with a progress report.

"I said, 'The name's Michael Bloomberg,''' the Mayor recounted, "and she said, 'How do you spell that?'''