Streetsblog investigation: NYPD neglects 311 complaints about illegal parking. Arena neighbors have known that for years.

It's long been obvious that the New York Police Department has little interest in pursuing complaints about vehicles parking or idling illegally during Barclays Center events--response to 911 complaints, or crimefighting, is the priority--so it's useful that Streetsblog has pursued the general issue of response to 311 complaints.

Captain of 78th Precinct Defends Arrest of Famed Bike Lawyer For Fixing Defaced Plate, Streetsblog wrote 11/30/22, covering an exchange at the online 78th Precinct Community Council meeting, which is one of the few--if not only--forums for citizens to get answers from precinct brass. (The case was not pursued by the Brooklyn DA.)

Screenshot from Streetsblog. Colors = complaint type (blocked
 bike lane, double parking, blocked hydrant, etc). These are
 near the Barclays Center but not necessarily related to events.

That article pointed back to Jesse Coburn's Streetsblog investigation published 10/21/21, IGNORED, DISMISSED: How the NYPD Neglects 311 Complaints about Driver Misconduct.

The summary:

Even as Mayor de Blasio steadfastly touts the department as a key partner in his effort to eliminate traffic deaths, police routinely ignore notifications about illegal parking, chronically reckless driving and abandoned vehicles, a Streetsblog investigation found. This disregard has fostered a culture of lawlessness on city streets that residents say is getting worse as traffic deaths climb to their highest point in years.

After analyzing more than 26 million 311 complaints, known as service requests, dating back to 2010, and conducting dozens of interviews, Streetsblog concluded:

The NYPD now closes thousands of service requests about driver misconduct each year in under five minutes, up from only five such complaints that were closed so quickly in 2010. Former city officials said it was implausible that officers were actually investigating and resolving so many complaints in under five minutes, given it takes the NYPD more than seven minutes on average to respond to even the most critical emergencies, per city data. (Streetsblog is defining driver misconduct as a group of 17 service requests related to illegal parking, chronically reckless driving and abandoned vehicles that 311 routes to the NYPD.)

In the article, the 78th Precinct is cited as a notable example of ignoring 311 complaints, including one filed by a reporter who witnessed a Postal Service truck blocking a bike lane; though the complaint was closed 23 minutes after it was filed, no officers visited the site and the truck didn’t move.

But why?

The answers Streetsblog got were similar to those who've spoken to cops at previous Community Council meetings, or read between the lines of statements at such meetings:

Such complaints are obviously less important than 911 calls, said a former Brooklyn cop, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, and officers weren’t always thrilled to deal with them.

“It’s not a high priority,” he said. “It’s not the bread and butter of our job.”

Others had less charitable explanations for the rise in swiftly closed calls.

“The police department is … just going through the routine,” said Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former city cop. “They’re checking boxes.”

About the arena 

The article didn't address the specific failures of enforcement during arena events. That to me is a political decision.

Should city officials want to ensure the absence of violations during arena events, they could do so--and probably earn enough in fines to pay for whatever additional personnel might be needed. Instead, it's an externality imposed on neighbors.