When it comes to the 311 system, a look at Community Board 7’s list of gripes will tell you there are plenty of building issues to complain about.

An analysis by the Norwood News, utilizing 311 data logged on or before Oct. 2,  found the top category of logged complaints during the last week of September in Community Board 7 fell under Property and Buildings. The category of Public Safety, which catalogues hydrant issues, came in second. The Board, covering Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge and University Heights had a total 771 complaints. The 311 complaints listed were deemed opened or unresolved five days from the time the complaint was filed.

Of the data collected, CB7 residents logged 181 complaints related to property and buildings. These complaints ranged from defective elevators to plumbing issues in sinks and toilets.

After exhausting several avenues to fix a problem themselves, frustrated tenants often turn to the 311 system as judiciary support, as 311 forwards complaints to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which in turn, dispatches inspectors to residential buildings.

“Most people in the community know their rights. They know what the landlord is required to do and if the landlord isn’t doing it, they know that this is what they should be doing–reporting it. If you don’t report it, it’s like it never happened,” said Sally Dunford, executive director of West Bronx Housing Center.

But Dunford also believes that sometimes tenants may exaggerate their complaints in order to expedite the 311 response. Unaware of heat laws, a tenant may call 311 complaining they are receiving no heat, when in reality the heat, albeit low, may be turned on. “What sometimes people do, and it’s problematic, is people will call over and over again about the same thing. The city is pretty sophisticated about this,” she said. “If they get six calls from the same person or the same person is calling every day, they’re going to decide that that person is probably kind of a ‘crank’.”

The 311 system catalogues every complaint that’s then tied to a complaint number. But what may increase the number of complaints is numerous calls from that same caller since a new complaint number is given each time a complaint is made. An exception is reached when the caller follows up on a previously recorded complaint number.

Analyzing the 12 community boards all together, tree-related issues ranging from new tree requests to removal of overgrown trees or branches, were the number one type of complaint coming in with a total of 1,788 311 calls.

Community Board 12 had the most tree-related complaints, totaling 313. CB12, the largest community board in the Bronx, covers the northeast Bronx, including Baychester, Edenwald, and Williamsbridge. CB12’s category with the second most complaints was property and buildings, logging in a total of 127 complaints.

Across the Bronx, the categories with the highest complaints included noise, property and buildings, public safety, and trees.

However, one exception that deviated from the most popular categories across all boards was found in CB10, covering many neighborhoods including City Island, Throggs Neck, and Pelham Bay, where its most popular category for complaints was streets and sidewalks, at 313 complaints. A complaint logged under the streets and sidewalks category can range from a broken street light to a sidewalk condition that needs attention.

“We need to keep improving our quality of life. If we don’t continue to call 311, what happens is it’s very easy for misbehavior to continue and grow,” said Elizabeth Quaranta, president of Friends of Mosholu Parkland.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.