Submit a RADAR
Donate

What’s New in NYC Civic Tech – May 08, 2025

Noel Hidalgo

First, we at BetaNYC work hard to ensure that information and data are used appropriately. Second, we respect all those we work with. We truly believe that no one is above the law and that our neighbors should be respected, regardless of whether they have a badge or lack a home. Due process and equal justice are core tenets of this democracy. Currently, those two tenets are being violated.

Fundamentally, we believe that data should be used to inform services and infrastructure. Over the weekend, two interesting data stories from the NYPD were published that are counter to this framework.

The First One — NYPD’s Gang Database. 

As kids, we’re all taught to watch out who we hang out with and make sure we don’t hang out with the “wrong” crowd. Yet in New York City, the NYPD determines who is the “wrong” crowd and can red-line your entire building, determining  ALL of its residents as the “wrong” people. The state also has a gang database which has received little scrutiny and is feeding data into Federal Criminal & Immigration Databases.

The NYPD’s redlining of communities is well documented in legal proceedings dating back to the 2000s when our Muslim neighbors and our working neighbors of color were tagged into two separate databases. While our Muslim neighbors won their civil rights case, people entered into the NYPD’s gang database have yet to find similar relief.

The NYPD won’t disclose how one gets added to it, how you can get removed from it, or what red flags put you in it, but court documents highlight that using the wrong words on social media or just wishing your neighbor or classmate “happy birthday” can get you added. Once added to the database, you are subject to harassment and detention. Smart Cities Dive and Hell Gate have a good rundown on issues at hand.  I really enjoyed the Hell Gate podcast.

As New Yorkers who care about the appropriate administration of government services, we know this is wrong. It violates our neighbors’ civil rights and demonstrates that biased criminal enforcement continues. Not only is this bad policing, but it is also leading to unhealthy outcomes for NYPD officers. 

The Second One — NYPD’s new Quality of Life division.

For years, safe streets activists have rightfully called 311 to lodge complaints about illegal parking around the city. For those of us who have tried, we have been harassed in the middle of the night from “unknown numbers” or have our requests for service closed with “no action needed.” Last week’s announcement that the NYPD is targeting specific corridors because of 911 and 311 complaints should be a moment of relief, but instead, it is alarming.

A year ago, a software developer posted a sensational video claiming to use artificial intelligence to file thousands of NYC 311 service requests about biking on the sidewalk. West42st, a hyper-local digital media outlet, gave the video a backstory and interviewed safe streets advocates, Christine Berthet and Jehiah Czebotar. The two rightfully contextualized that biking on the sidewalk is indicative of dangerous street design.

For decades, urban planners have researched how to build streets that are safe for people walking and biking. The two can and have coexisted, but can’t when motor vehicle traffic is prioritized over walking or biking. Newly released data from the DOT provides a case in point. Due to congestion pricing, there are fewer cars on the roads, and car crashes are down.

You would think that the City’s business community would have an issue with misuse of resources, but Crain’s New York Business, a “business” community news outlet, put out an editorial saying public safety should also focus on “daily nuisances.” They go on to repackage “broken windows” theory as a solution to the City’s issues.

Not only does the editorial talk about this new unit pulling from “existing community-focused units” (NYPD already has a huge overtime problem), but it also says that the system pulls in 311 data into a Q-Stat system… modeled after the notorious and often ill-represented “CompStat”, a criminal enforcement management practice where incidents are mapped and cataloged and resource allocations are scrutinized . (YES, CompStat is a database AND a management practice. It is the definition of juking the stats.)

So you ask, isn’t CompStat a good thing? In theory, yes–data-informed decision-making is a good thing. However, when the practice reinforces racist and biased criminal enforcement, it is bad. CompStat created a legacy of stop-and-frisk, which research paper after research paper demonstrated was racist, wasteful, and had a negligible impact on crime. Yet, NYPD stopped, questioned, and frisked more people in 2024 than any other year, and still the Crain’s opinion piece states, “We’re hopeful that the new Quality of Life Division reflects a more thoughtful approach: data-driven, community-focused and responsive to real-world concerns.”

Again, when has the NYPD voluntarily taken this type of approach?

Within the first week of the Quality of Life divisions’ on-street enforcement, StreetsBlog has documented NYPD officers “unleashing” their worst instincts. Anyone else remember when NYPD Officer Pogan assaulted a cyclist in Times Square? 

Charles Komanoff followed up with a good opinion piece in StreetsBlog outlining alternatives to criminalization. Again, street safety comes down to a street design / urban planning framework.

From someone who has seen 311 evolve, the NYPD Commissioner should know there are many limitations to NYC 311 data. Not only do they have 20 years of data, but they have also used it for selective enforcement. Commissioner Tisch was the DOITT commissioner when NYC 311 moved to a modern platform and limited its integration across agencies and public-facing tools.

If this administration really wanted to address quality-of-life issues, especially street safety issues, it would have looked at them from a design perspective. That is the fundamental component of Vision Zero.

I’m surprised no one has called this a political campaign stunt. We’re dealing with a Mayor willing to do anything to stay out of jail/stay in City Hall. We have a criminal enforcement agency with decades of data practices that violate civil rights and due process, aggressive enforcers, and a known workflow that will subject non-citizens to possible deportation, while citizens face detention and harassment.

How should the next Mayor use data for criminal enforcement?

We should be using data to build better social services and infrastructure, not subject our neighbors to harassment, detention, and deportation. Yet here we are again, criminal enforcement over infrastructure or community services.

IF you’re interested in understanding how other Mayoral hopefuls will approach transportation, street design, and criminal enforcement, the NY Times has a questionnaire, and Streetsblog has a questionnaire focused on transportation. NY Times also has a rundown on who is funding the candidates. Today, Crain’s published their survey questions which includes questions about AI.

We have less than 50 days till the Democratic primary. Friends, now is the time to ensure your friends and family know these issues.

Noel Hidalgo

State Budget Rundown

Community Resources ?  

This Week in NYC Civic Tech ?

This Week in Data & Gov News ?️

Jobs Alert and Announcements ? 

Upcoming Events ?

Note: All times are listed in EDT

Want to sponsor this newsletter or to be featured in future ones?

Share your community resources, projects, events, and anything else happening so we can feature them in future posts. 


What did you think of today’s newsletter? We’d love to hear your feedback and ideas. Reply to this message. Take care of each other, and have a great weekend.