NYC OpenData 311 Service Requests and Complaints for Beaches, Pools and Saunas for 2019 to 2021.

Like any research project in the Digital Humanities, this praxius mapping project is a continuous work in progress. The data set I chose was attained from NYC OpenData website focusing on 311 Service Requests and Complaints. I found myself concerned on the topic 311 Service Requests and Complaints of Beaches, Pools, and Saunas in all 5 Boroughs of New York City from 2019 to 2021. This concern comes from my personal training as a water safety instructor and the passion for providing the essential life skills of swimming and water safety, inclusively, to every community. This data set of 311 Service Requests and Complaints of NYC Beaches, Pools, and Saunas from 2019 to 2021, provides not only the area and year of the incident but also the type of incident it was in which would help lead an initiative on how to provide prompt water safety measures to the area.

The NYC OpenData website contains a copious amount of data pertaining to the common requests and complaints of New Yorkers to 311 services. As New York City is a large city with a multitude of quandaries and dilemmas, there are many different types of complaints and requests. The NYC OpenData source provides these different categories of 311 service requests and complaints ranging from noise complaints to sanitation discrepancies and illegal parking, to name only a few, and gives the essential information of when it was reported, in what location did this incident occur, what department agency does this incident correspond with and if the incident was reported later as resolved. Having this data recorded is vital in showing potential and progress in taking necessary precaution and responsibility in protecting New Yorkers from water safety hazards.

The Process:

1. Go to: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/311-Service-Requests-from-2010-to-Present/erm2-nwe9

• Search: 311 Service Requests

• Choose: 311 Service Request from 2010- Present (2021)

• Find: the Data Dictionary and download Excell Sheet

• Look for: “Complaint type” in the column name, which shares the core value in data set and the topic of incident; “Descriptor” which further details of the incident; “status” which shows if the incident has been resolved or is pending; “location variables”; and a new feature, “open_data_channel_type,” which provides information on how the complaint or request was submitted, either by phone call or online.

•    Press: “View Data,” at the top of the NYC OpenData site
  • Set up a filter by:
    • Choosing “conditional formatting”
    • Change to “Complaint Type”
    • Change the “is” to “contains”
    • Put in the Text Box: “Beaches, Pools and Saunas”
• Add a new filter:
  • Choose: “Created date”
  • Choose: “is after”
    • ** I only collected about 2 years worth of data because I didn’t want my computer to crash, plus I wanted a small but compact scope of a few years of data for comparison
  • Choose: your dates of research

• Go To export
  • Choose: CSV for Excel
  • Download Data
  • Open Tableau
  • Import file as a text file
  • Start mapping by clicking on “Sheet 1”

Utilizing Tableau:

I choose to work with Tableau because it was the first data platform I was exposed to at the Graduate Center, in my Intro to Data Visualization course, and I had been previously working with it for my other classes. With that being said, I have only had one month’s worth of experience using Tableau for the use of this specific project. But for this project, I feel Tableau is incredibly appropriate for conveying the essential needs in organizing and aesthetically pinpointing the data set onto a map. I have liked my experience working with Tableau because this system allows the creator to be resourceful and innovative in the conception process. This is definitely artistry to Tableau that goes along with the territory of visualization. After playing around with the features of Tableau for a while, there are many options in creating what would be best to convey certain mapping data for each data set. I chose a gradient map, so I could show each incident of each year on one map, using different colors for each year. By using labels and details, I was able to add the location, type of facility, incident types, and if the incident was resolved.

Realizations:

Within two to two and a half years worth of NYC 311 Service Requests and Complaint Data, there have only been 398 complaints and requests reported to NYC 311 Services. It’s not the most riveting data but it is essential to view what needs to be improved in water safety environments for the New York City public. The boroughs with the most 311 complaints, from least to greatest, are Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. As I look over the data set and see it organized as a map in Tableau, I’ve come to realize that the purpose of this map is to see improvements in conditions, or not, and to address these necessary requests and complaints to the New York City government for that they can enforce necessary action to protect New York City residents for their water safety.

Things to Work On:

I would like to continuously work on this map. I think more factors could be added to make the subject matter more personable. The importance of water safety is to prevent as many water-related deaths as possible. Maybe, I could find a data set that records the number of fatalities from drowning in New York City and have this correspond with the 311 Service Requests and Complaints for Beaches, Pools and Saunas. I would also like to work on my map formatting and maybe try to add the name of each facility as well as color code each borough instead of labeling it.