The 411 on 311

We all know to dial 911 when the shit hits the fan, but who do you call when it’s stinking up your lawn?

These minor dilemmas are the job of 311, a 24-hour call center created in 1999 to unify the 42 nonemergency city service departments so people could get quick help for issues like graffiti removal. Its swift service also prevents people from calling 911, which could tie up emergency lines with burning questions about, say, recycling, while calls about burning buildings are put on hold, according to 311 City Services Director Phillip Hampton.

The bulk of last year’s 4.5 million 311 calls concerned potholes, tree and storm damage emergencies, streetlight malfunctions, relocated vehicles, information on festivals and special events, and requests for assistance from the Department of Housing’s homelessness prevention program, which helps victims of the subprime mortgage collapse avoid foreclosure. Some people (who perhaps need a hobby) call so often that operators recognize their voices.

But Hampton says his favorite request came from an irate woman demanding to know which neighbor initiated the removal of a lovely but diseased tree near her home. What she didn’t know (and what the operator didn’t tell her) was the instigator was her husband.