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NYC Open Data would not exist without the dedication of its community. This includes the work of Open Data Coordinators – City staff at each agency who are responsible for identifying, structuring, documenting, publishing, maintaining, and sharing their agency’s public datasets – and the countless programmers, engineers, educators, analysts, policy makers, students, & residents that utilize that data.
As New York City evolves, so does the data that is used in and produced by its operations. Better data means better projects, better projects means better insight, and that insight keeps the open data cycle in motion. We’ve featured some of the community’s most notable new datasets, tools, projects, and events below:
- NYC Honorary Street Names
- Where Does NYC Garbage Go?
- 311 Resolution Satisfaction Survey
- Decoding NYC’s Linguistic Diversity
- Using NYC Data for Budget Transparency
NYC Honorary Street Names
Agency: Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS)
Dataset(s): NYC Honorary Street Names Data Collection
In November 2024, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) published an interactive map to help connect people to the nearly 2,500 streets, intersections, and other locations that have been co-named after notable New Yorkers.
The new tool was developed after DORIS was designated with the responsibility to share background information on co-named locations on its website in 2023, following the passage of Local Law 104 of 2023 by the City Council. Application developers built an interactive map that allows users to quickly find biographical or background information about the person or entity for whom the name change took place—right from their phones. For example, the map informs users that the corner of Park Row and Spruce Street in Manhattan is co-named “Elizabeth Jennings Place” and honors Elizabeth Jennings Graham, a Black teacher who integrated the City’s trolleys in 1854 by refusing to refusing to get off the trolley when instructed.
This tool was developed during the summer of 2024 by the DORIS application development team and the talented interns who entered data and continue to do so. Currently, the interns are researching local laws that renamed streets during the 1980s and 1990s to be included on the map.
There are currently 2,496 entries – 1,610 of those entries are co-named intersections, and 886 are co-named streets. The map is searchable by the name of the individual, zip code, and categories such as “firefighter” or “police officer.” Users can reference the website to find out more about each person honored with a co-named location.
In 2002 and 2003, local laws named more than 400 streets for first responders killed on 9/11. Many of those streets lack biographical information. DORIS interns are researching these individuals and writing the biographical information that the City Council could include in an upcoming local law. All biographical information in the map is taken directly from the enacted local laws.
Where Does NYC Garbage Go?
Dataset(s): Disposal Facilities and Sites Used for DSNY-Managed Waste
Where does NYC Garbage Go? It is now possible to know! In July 2024, the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) published several new datasets that help tell the never-ending story of where NYC garbage goes. These datasets show how many tons of refuse are sent to each transfer station, with details on the landfills and waste-to-energy combustors that receive this refuse. Data tables can be linked to show the quantities of NYC trash that flow to NYC-based transfer stations, and then on to different disposal locations throughout the Eastern United States. There is also information on costs, travel distances, and modes of transportation.
This is the closest New Yorkers have ever come to being able to follow their trash on an ongoing basis. Knowing this information puts fresh perspective on what it means to dispose of your trash; and how doing other things with it – like recycling, composting, donating, reusing and reducing – is a better option.
Following the release of these datasets, a team of researchers and activists (waste scholar Samantha MacBride, climate innovation consultant Matthew Eshed, data analyst Andrew Goh, waste management expert Jane Wu, and urban data scientist & planner Shen Xin) presented a “how-to” primer on using and interpreting this data during NYC Open Data Week as part of the 2025 School of Data Conference, and designing a test dashboard drawing from dataset APIs. This group, in collaboration with the Manhattan and Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Boards, also built a user interface that maps the trail of trash. The project’s organizer, Samantha MacBride, lets users know that “openness, transparency and accountability… is especially relevant to residents of disadvantaged communities in NYC where waste transfer stations cluster and to activists in community composting, urban agriculture, and local reuse enterprises who see NYC’s zero-waste future as one in which materials are kept local to the extent possible, and risks are not exported to other communities.”
311 Resolution Satisfaction Survey: Closing the Feedback Loop
Agency: NYC Office of Technology & Innovation (OTI)
Dataset(s): 311 Resolution Satisfaction Survey
NYC311, the front door to City services, helps New Yorkers file more than 3 million Service Requests each year — from reporting needed repairs to getting heat restored. In 2025, the Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) added an important new feature: the 311 Resolution Satisfaction Survey (RSAT). For the first time, Service Requests don’t just end with a resolution — anyone who files a Service Request and leaves contact information is invited to provide feedback through RSAT upon the closure of their Service Request. Responses are collected across all NYC311 SR sources – call center, mobile app and online. Customers are asked how satisfied they are with how the relevant agency handled their Service Request, and if they are dissatisfied, they are asked to select a reason why. Each row of data contains these responses, enhanced with information about the underlying Service Requests. Survey results are shared back with agencies, introducing a feedback loop that lets New Yorkers’ voices shape how services are delivered.
NYC311 has published this data in both a dashboard and an Open Data dataset, providing insight into government performance from the customer’s perspective. Careful consideration was given to the level of aggregation in this published data to maximize transparency and utility while preserving the privacy of customers. On Open Data, survey results can be reviewed on the level of Service Request type, month, and borough, highlighting where New Yorkers feel most and least satisfied and opportunities for growth. Categories with fewer than five responses are suppressed to remove the risk of identifying survey respondents. The dynamic nature of the dashboard allows for data to be presented on the community board and week level while maintaining the fewer-than-five rule. As of September 2025, there have been over 360,000 responses to the RSAT survey. This adds to the array of 311 performance and outcome data available on Open Data, including the 311 Service Requests and 311 Customer Satisfaction datasets (the latter of which relates to satisfaction with 311’s call takers). Having the RSAT survey on Open Data helps City government focus on making services more effective, responsive, and fair for all New Yorkers.
Decoding NYC’s Linguistic Diversity
Agency: Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA)
Dataset(s): NYC Population FactFinder & Languages of New York City
New York City’s linguistic diversity, with over 700 languages spoken across our communities, presents both tremendous strengths and significant challenges for equitable service delivery. While Local Law 30, enacted in 2017, established important language access requirements including 10 designated Citywide languages, the lack of operational language data, particularly during emergencies and crises, poses challenges that can exacerbate equity gaps for diverse communities. To address this critical need and support the broader goals of language justice, the Language Access team at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) organized “Decoding NYC’s Linguistic Diversity” as part of NYC Open Data Week 2025, bringing together participants from government, community organizations, and the public to explore data-driven approaches to language access.
The workshop showcased language data tools from three key entities. The Department of City Planning demonstrated their Census American Community Survey (ACS) data on languages spoken throughout NYC, including Population FactFinder, broken down by community districts and boroughs, providing granular demographic information for targeted service planning. The Endangered Language Alliance presented their interactive digital language mapping project, revealing language communities often invisible in official records. The Department for the Aging illustrated how client-based language data collection informs their services delivery. These approaches highlighted how agencies can move beyond simply defaulting to the 10 designated languages toward more responsive, evidence-based decision making that advances language justice.
By integrating diverse data sources and moving beyond assumptions, organizations can better understand the full spectrum of their communities’ linguistic needs and allocate resources more effectively. To learn more about language access in New York City, visit www.nyc.gov/iSpeak.
Using Data for Budget Transparency: Stormwater Fees, Police Overtime Trends, and the State of NYC’s Public Education
Agency: NYC Independent Budget Office (IBO)
Dataset(s): Citywide Parcel-Based Impervious Area GIS Study & Citywide Payroll Data (Fiscal Year)
The Independent Budget Office (IBO) is a City government agency, that aims to enhance understanding of New York City’s budget, public policy, and economy through independent analysis. A key part of this work involves leveraging Open Data to inform timely, transparent, and accessible research.
One example, presented at the 2025 Open Data Week festival, focused on stormwater fees. In many U.S. cities, stormwater fees are charged to property owners based on the amount of impervious surface (hard surfaces like pavement and roofs that contribute to stormwater runoff). These fees encourage greener infrastructure, or at least generate revenue to help manage harmful runoff. To explore how such a policy might work in New York City, IBO used geographic surface data from the Department of Environmental Protection, published on Open Data, to model potential revenues and financial impacts.
IBO also presented on police overtime. Using New York Police Department (NYPD) overtime data from Open Data, IBO examined the relationship between officer tenure and hours of overtime usage. From 2019 to 2024, NYPD overtime spending increased, ranging from $600 million to $955 million. IBO encountered a few data limitations: the data lacked identifiers to distinguish uniform title codes, making it difficult to identify uniformed employees.
Beyond Open Data, IBO has unique data access to various protected datasets, such as Department of Education (DOE) student-level data. IBO creates data visualizations and datasets by aggregating the DOE data and publishing them in our annual Education Indicators. This publication presents data on student enrollment and demographics, student attendance, student achievement, teacher demographics, and building usage. All visualizations have downloadable tables on IBO’s website.