Introduction
Dear New Yorkers,
If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Maybe that isn’t the best analogy in the hustle and bustle of New York City*, but here’s what we mean to say: posting datasets about the work of City government online technically makes them “open,” but it doesn’t mean they’ve been “opened.” Opened to New Yorkers to better understand their neighborhoods, the agencies that serve them, and programs they’re eligible for. Opened to arm them with a fun fact, serve as the launching-off point for an analytics project, or to help them advocate for a change. We at the Open Data Team don’t just want to “open” data, we want to keep opening it with continuous, incremental improvements to the level of transparency, access, and accountability of NYC Open Data.
When you access a dataset, you should be able to understand why it exists, what it contains, and what questions it can and can’t be used to answer. The dataset should represent a coherent concept - all of the trees in New York City, or all of the permits an agency has issued - not just a part of a whole, or an amalgamation of multiple concepts that don’t fit together. These principles make up the idea of dataset quality, which we’re striving to improve for both new and existing datasets.
Data collected by New York City agencies is open by default and must be posted on NYC Open Data, but that doesn’t mean all data is ready for publication. Every time an agency identifies a new dataset, we work with that agency’s Open Data Coordinator to put it through its paces. Together, we think about whether that dataset is coherent and consistent, and whether a non-subject matter expert could understand what a row and each column means.
We also are working back through the over 3,000 datasets already on NYC Open Data and ensuring their quality as well. As you’ll see in this report, one of the most noticeable impacts of that work is a reduction in the number of datasets, as we consolidate information that belongs together, like reports from different years. We will continue to work with Open Data Coordinators to make data easier to find and use, and support them with improved processes and new resources to do so. These include updates to our Technical Standards Manual, enhanced training materials, and improvements to our help desk, all of which you can read about in this report.
Considering how data is published is just the beginning of “opening” it. Our team is also focused on creating pathways for New Yorkers to learn how to use open data, provide their feedback, and start conversations with fellow data users. To help people get started, we collaborate with civic tech group BetaNYC to run the Open Data Ambassadors program where we train people to teach their fellow New Yorkers about how to use open data. This year, we hosted nearly two dozen classes, partnered with City Council members to bring this resource to their constituents, and reached nearly 1,000 New Yorkers.
When people experience challenges with NYC Open Data or have a question or suggestion, they can reach out to our public help desk, where we connect them to the relevant Open Data Coordinator. These inquiries regularly lead to errors being corrected, documentation being improved, events being held at Open Data Week, and new datasets being published. This year, we enhanced the help desk to make it easier for Coordinators to track their inquiries with the aim of improving response time and quality.
But this work to help individual users isn’t enough - New Yorkers will only get the most out of their open data with opportunities to work together and learn from each other. This is the goal of Open Data Week, which celebrated record attendance this year. Each year, government employees, academics, advocates, and more share their work collecting, analyzing, and mobilizing public datasets and get a chance to meet each other. Events at Open Data Week are driven by members of the public and our 2025 call for proposals is open, so share your ideas!
As you can see, the work of open data expands far beyond our team. The foundational advocacy of civic-minded New Yorkers created the Open Data Law, which in turn created the network of Open Data Coordinators who identify, document, and maintain datasets. The work of publicizing these datasets is aided by, and replenishes, a wider community of volunteer Open Data Ambassadors, Open Data Week event organizers, artists in the Data Through Design collective, and more. If you’re reading this, you too can join this civic-minded community and help build NYC Open Data!
Yours in opening data,
The NYC Open Data Team
*NYC Parks actually manages more than 6,800 acres of forest.
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