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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR-
080-09
February 17, 2009
MAYOR BLOOMBERG RELEASES PRELIMINARY FY 2009 MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT AND LAUNCHES NYCSTAT PERFORMANCE REPORTING TOOL
Report Shows Continued Strong Performance in Providing Key Services
NYCStat Offers Better Online Access to Essential City Data
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today released the
Preliminary Mayor's Management Report (PMMR) for Fiscal Year 2009. The
PMMR provides a snapshot of how the City has performed four months into the
fiscal year and forecasts expected levels of service based on the City's
Preliminary Budget. The critical measures of agency performance included
in the PMMR show continued strong performance in the delivery of City
services. Vital services were largely maintained or improved during the
reporting period.
"The preliminary results in this report demonstrate the
City's ability to maintain and enhance key services," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Our
commitment to accountability and performance management - through the Mayor's
Management Report, and through the new NYCStat performance reporting tool - helps ensure our
ability to navigate through this period of economic pressures while safeguarding
the services most crucial to New Yorkers' wellbeing and quality of life."
The City's Accountability Tools: NYCStat, CPR and
the MMR
Since February 2008, the MMR/PMMR reports and the
Citywide Performance Reporting (CPR) system have served as
two complementary information sources on City agency performance. The
Charter-mandated MMR, issued twice-yearly on a schedule aligned with the City's
budget cycle, presents performance trends and narrative explanations for a wide
range of important statistics. The online CPR system, focusing on only the most
critical performance measures for each agency, provides dynamic access to
performance data in an up-to-date dashboard format; frequent updates, with new
data each month for most indicators; and at-a-glance performance evaluations,
summarizing trends for each measure, agency, and type of service.
Today the City is taking the next step forward in
centralizing online access to information about City service delivery. The
NYCStat system is designed to be the City's one-stop-shop for all essential
data, reports, and statistics related to City services. From the NYCStat web
page users can access a wide array of performance-related information including
citywide and agency-specific information, 311-related data, and interactive
mapping features for selected performance data and quality-of-life indicators.
"With NYCStat," said Mayor Bloomberg, "we are continuing
to meet the challenge and the opportunity that web-based technologies present
for helping citizens become directly involved in government. By eliminating the
mystery about where and what kinds of performance information are available, the
City will increase accountability to its customers in the same way we increased
service to customers by creating 311."
In addition to MMR, PMMR and CPR reporting, NYCStat
links users to:
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The NYC SCOUT web page, which maps street conditions
such as potholes and catch basin defects, and allows users to track the
progress of repairs;
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My Neighborhood Statistics (MNS), which maps
comparative performance data at the neighborhood level for approximately 50
selected performance measures;
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Scorecard Cleanliness Ratings, updated monthly for
streets and sidewalks throughout the five boroughs;
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Data from the 311 Customer Service Center, including
basic operational statistics and community-level reports on the City's
response to service requests from 311 callers;
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Citywide Customer Survey Results, from the 2008
survey of New Yorker's opinions on the delivery of City
services;
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NYCity Map, which lets users find information on
transportation, education, public safety, resident services, neighborhood
information, and City life; and,
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Additional performance measures at the websites of
12 key City agencies.
In the coming months, NYCStat will add new performance
information on two of the Administration's key initiatives: standardized
Customer Service measures for all agencies that interact with the public; and
measures related to sustainability and the City's comprehensive PlaNYC 2030
initiative. NYCStat can be accessed at nyc.gov.
311 Customer Service Center Usage
In addition to agency performance statistics, the PMMR
shows information generated by the 311 Customer Service Center. Calls to
311 rose to nearly 5.4 million during the first four months of Fiscal 2009, a
12% increase compared with the same period last year. While handling this
increase, 311 answered 95% of all calls in 30 seconds or less.
The following highlights some of the preliminary results
shown in the Fiscal 2009 PMMR. Unless otherwise noted, the trends
described below compare July-October 2008 to July-October 2007.
Public Safety
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Crime continued to decline: Major
felony crime decreased 3%. Five felony crime categories decreased during the
reporting period, while homicides and grand larceny auto
increased.
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Homicides increased: Murder and
non-negligent manslaughter increased 10.6%, from 170 to 188 in the same period
of Fiscal 2009. As of the first six months of the fiscal year the trend had
moderated, with homicides increasing 1.5% from 263 to 267.
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Major felony crime decreased in transit and
public housing: There was a 3% reduction in major felony crime within
the transit system and a 4% decrease in major felonies in public
housing.
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Response times to all crimes in progress
increased slightly: Average response times to all crimes in progress
increased 12 seconds to 7 minutes 36 seconds.
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Complaints concerning police officers
decreased slightly: The Civilian Complaint Review Board received
2,505 complaints about alleged police officer misconduct, a 1% decrease from
2,530 complaints during the first four months of Fiscal 2008.
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Structural fire response time was
faster: Average response time to structural fires citywide fell 20
seconds to 4 minutes 6 seconds, decreasing in all five
boroughs.
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Medical emergency response times
improved: Combined average response time to life-threatening medical
emergencies by ambulance and fire units decreased 3 seconds, to 5 minutes 39
seconds.
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Civilian fire fatalities increased:
Civilian fire fatalities rose from 30 to 33. There were five fires with
multiple fatalities during the first four months of Fiscal 2009, compared to
two fires with multiple fatalities during the same period of Fiscal
2008.
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Traffic deaths fell: Traffic fatalities decreased
from 112 to 102.
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Repair times improved for traffic signs and
street lights: The average time for the
Department of Transportation (DOT) to fix priority regulatory signs
(Stop, Yield, Do Not Enter and One Way signs) improved by a half-day to 1.6
days. When combining performance by both DOT and Con Edison, repair
times for street lights were faster by two days.
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Construction-related fatalities decreased,
but injuries and incidents increased: The Department of Buildings
reported 3 fatalities, 71 injuries and 176 incidents compared to 5 fatalities,
44 injuries and 148 incidents.
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Housing Authority elevator-related injuries
increased slightly, but elevator maintenance improved: The number of
alleged elevator-related injuries increased from 12 to 14 and there was 1
elevator-related fatality. Average time to resolve elevator complaints in
public housing declined from 12.2 hours to 11.7 hours. Additionally, the
percent of time that elevators were in service increased from 97.1% to
98.0%.
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Violence in the jails continued to fall and
is at its lowest levels since this data was reliably tracked:
In adult correctional facilities, stabbing and slashing incidents
remained stable during the reporting period at 6 incidents. Assaults on staff
increased by 13% from 135 to 152, while fight/assault infractions dropped by 5%,
from 2,174 to 2,076.
Quality of Life
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Street cleanliness ratings reached a new
high: As a result of the Department's continued emphasis on cleaning,
average street ratings reached a high of 96.1% acceptably clean. In addition,
all of the City's 234 sections received average ratings of 80% acceptably
clean or better.
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Recycling diversion rate and tonnage
increased: The
total recycling diversion rate and total recycled tons per day increased 3
percentage points and 7%, respectively.
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Calls to 311 increased: The 311 Customer Service Center received 12% more calls,
from 4.78 million to 5.37 million. Callers waited 7 seconds on average to
speak to a 311 representative and 95% of calls were answered in 30 seconds or
less.
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Park and playground ratings show mixed
results: Overall, the percent of parks and playgrounds with
acceptable cleanliness levels met the performance target of 90%, but
cleanliness ratings for large parks fell to 74% from 79% due to ongoing
problems with illegal dumping. The percent of parks rated acceptable for
overall condition decreased to 82% from 85%, driven, in part, by lower play
equipment ratings. Acceptability ratings for safety surfaces remained
high at 93%.
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Tree planting reaches new high: The
number of trees planted nearly tripled, to 1,028, due to projects associated
with the Million Trees Program.
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Response times to sewer backup and leak
complaints improved: The number of sewer backup complaints received
by the Department of Environmental Protection fell by 44% when heavy rains
during July and August 2007 resulted in higher complaint volume. On average,
complaints were resolved within 4.8 hours during this reporting period
compared to 9.1 hours last year. Leak complaints decreased to 1,120
compared to 1,260 and were resolved 3.5 days faster.
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Noise complaints decreased but took longer
to close: The Department of Environmental
Protection received 15,275 noise complaints compared to 19,998 last
year. However, due largely to a program to reduce the backlog of
complaints and changes in how correspondence was tracked, the time to close a
complaint increased by 2.7 days to 16.4 days.
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Water and sewer revenue collection
improved: The total accounts receivable balance was reduced to $518
million from $636 million. The percent of billed amount collected in 30 days
held steady at 51.5%.
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Housing starts are down but construction
completions are up. Overall construction starts under the New Housing
Marketplace Plan declined by 50% compared to the same period last year, but
completions were twice as high. While four-month figures can be subject
to large fluctuations depending on the size of projects, the decrease in
construction starts also reflects downward revisions to the annual plan
resulting from the stretch-out of the City's Capital Plan.
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Response times to housing complaints were
quicker despite an increase in complaints: Despite a 6.6% increase in overall complaints, the Department of
Housing Preservation and Development closed emergency complaints in an average
of 11.5 days compared to 14.7 days, and reduced the backlog of outstanding
emergency complaints by 14.8%. The average time to close nonemergency
complaints also improved, decreasing by 1.8 days to 28.8 days. Due to
the administrative closing of nonemergency complaints that were at least a
year old, the total volume of outstanding nonemergency complaints dropped by
nearly two-thirds.
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Response times to emergency and heat
complaints in public housing increased: In the summer of 2007, the
New York City Housing Authority re-categorized some work requests, such as
sink and tub stoppages, as emergency requests in order to meet customer
requests for service within 24 hours. This change resulted in triple the
number of emergency work requests received, and the average time to respond to
the increased number of emergency complaints rose by 29% to 10.1 hours.
The average time to respond to heat complaints rose by 3% but remained within
the goal of seven hours.
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Wait times at taxi licensing facility were
reduced: The average wait time at the Taxi
and Limousine Commission's licensing facility was cut by 13 minutes to 18
minutes due to customer service enhancements and added
staff.
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Tort payouts increased: Payouts by
the City for
tort claims increased
by increased by 14% due in large part to the trial/settlement of six of
the cases stemming from the October 2003 Staten Island Ferry accident.
Education
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School Progress Report grades
improve. Results for School Progress Reports are now available for
the 2007-2008 School Year. The percent of schools receiving a grade of A
increased from 23% to 38%. The percent of schools graded B rose from 39% to
41%, while the percent of schools receiving grades of C, D, or F
declined.
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School attendance improved at all
levels. The percentage of students with a 90% or better attendance
rate rose two points from the reporting period of September 2007 through
October 2007 to the reporting period of September 2008 through October 2008.
The average daily attendance rate increased 0.4 percentage points as compared
to the same time period last year.
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Education capital program continues to
expand school capacity: The School Construction Authority expects to
create 14,182 new seats in time for the start of the 2009-10 school year. In
the following year, SCA expects to create 17,046 new seats.
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Teachers have more experience. The
number of teachers with 5 or more years of experience increased by
approximately 3 percentage points, to 64.4%, between the reporting period of
July 2007 through October 2007 and the reporting period of July 2008 through
October 2008.
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Average class sizes increased in all but one
grade. The average class size figures reported in the PMMR
(kindergarten through grade 8) are based on the active registers in schools as
of October 31, 2008. Because the register snapshot data includes non-attending
students, this preliminary class size data has limited comparative meaning.
The figures will be updated to reflect the final audited registers for the
2008-2009 school year in the September 2009 Mayor's Management
Report.
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School safety incidents increased:
During the first four months of Fiscal 2009 major felony crime in the City's public schools increased 16%
compared to the same period of Fiscal 2008. However, during the first
six months of the fiscal year major felony crime in schools decreased 4 percent, from
463 to 444 crimes. During the same period major felony crime in Impact Schools decreased
50 percent, from 24 to 12 crimes.
Human Services
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More families and single adults entered
homeless shelters, but the number of single adults, adult families and
families with children placed into permanent housing increased: The Department of Homeless Services saw an
across-the-board increase in single adults and families entering the shelter
services system, including an increase of 38% for families with children. At
the same time, the number of single adults placed into permanent housing
increased by 8% during the reporting period, while adult families and families
with children placed into permanent housing increased by 14% and 20%
respectively, during the reporting period. These increases can be attributed
to Advantage New York, DHS' rental subsidy program, and a series of
system-wide reforms that increase provider and client
accountability.
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Response time to child abuse reports is
faster: The percentage of abuse and neglect reports responded to
within 24 hours increased from 97.0% to 97.2%, continuing the improvement seen
in Fiscal 2008.
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Repeat child abuse reports are
down: During the reporting period the percent of children in
completed investigations with repeat investigations within a year fell from
20.9% to 20.1%, and the percent of children with substantiated reports
followed by a second substantiated report within one year decreased from 14.1%
to 12.9%. These trends show the effects of improved case management, largely
as the result of ChildStat, the Administration for Children's Services' weekly
data and case review process.
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Reports of child abuse and neglect in foster
care and child care increased: The number of abuse/neglect reports
for children in foster care increased from 454 to 591. For children in child
care, the number of reports increased from 140 to 147. In both cases the
proportion of substantiated reports also increased. ACS continues to
collaborate with service providers to improve abuse/neglect reporting and
enhance the quality of investigations through ongoing staff training. The
increase in substantiation rates reflect this enhanced approach to
investigations.
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Child protection caseload ratios continue to
decline. The average child protective specialist caseload continues
to decline, reaching 8.3 during the first four months of Fiscal 2009, compared
to 10.1 during the same period last year.
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The number of people receiving public
assistance declined: The number of persons receiving cash assistance
decreased by 4.4%. The public assistance caseload as of October 2008
represents the lowest number of cash assistance recipients since October 1963.
This decrease has been due to the Human Resources Administration's continued
welfare reform efforts designed to engage recipients in work and work-related
activities, in order to enhance their ability to obtain employment and reach
their maximum level of self-sufficiency.
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The number of persons receiving food stamps
increased:
The number of persons receiving food
stamps increased by 18.1%. Among these recipients, the number of non-cash assistance persons
receiving food stamps increased 25.8%, reaching an all-time high.
Health
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Asthma patients needed fewer emergency room
visits in public hospitals: The rate of emergency room revisits
within seven days of discharges for adult asthma patients decreased from 7.0%
to 5.3%, and the revisit rate for pediatric asthma patients fell from 3.8% to
2.9%. The Health and Hospitals Corporation's Asthma Initiative, combined
with facility-specific asthma programs, emphasize close monitoring of asthma
patients.
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Lead poisoning cases continue to
decline: The number of new cases among children less than 18 years
requiring environmental intervention for lead poisoning decreased by 17%.
Other indicators of lead poisoning cases show similar improvement and
illustrate the continued success of the Lead Poisoning Prevention
Program.
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Restaurant inspections
increased: The percent of restaurants inspected improved
slightly. Inspection duration times have increased, reflecting efforts
to better assess pest infestation concerns and to conduct other risk
prevention activities during inspections.
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The number of syphilis cases
increased: The number of syphilis cases rose by 30%, reflecting
national trends. In addition to provider training, condom distribution and
public outreach, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will also
work closely with providers reporting the greatest number of syphilis cases.
The Department's sexually transmitted disease clinics are now offering
substance abuse screening, counseling, intervention, and referral for more
intensive services to address the role that substance abuse plays in risky
sexual behavior.
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Health Department refocuses
exterminations.
The number of pest control exterminations declined by
25%. The Department is focusing on exterminations of private properties rather than
catch basins. Since private property exterminations are more
time intensive, the overall number of sites exterminated
declined.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Stu Loeser/Marc La Vorgna
(212) 788-2958
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