The highest concentration of 311 complaints about lazy snow shoveling were directed at Prospect Heights sidewalks after last month's historic blizzard, a new study from the apartment rental website RentHop has found.
As per the advice DNAinfo offered last week, New Yorkers disgruntled about neighborhood sidewalks covered in snow after a certain amount of time has lapsed since the snowfall's end can call 311 to register a complaint with the city.
New York City administrative code stipulates that every owner, property manager, tenant or other individual in charge of a lot or building must clean snow and ice from the sidewalks in front, on the side of and in back of their properties; if they don't, they can be fined up to $350.
Sidewalks in Brooklyn got the most complaints about snow and ice complaints compared to those in any other borough, according to the number of 311 calls made per square mile over the last three winters, with up to 57.34 calls per square mile took issue with Brooklyn sidewalks during the winter of 2013-2014.
Sidewalks in Manhattan came in second, with a record of 48.18 calls per square mile.
RentHop based their interactive on city data. Click the image below to view their interactive map of all those complaints and their density in each neighborhood from the last three winters.
In addition to Prospect Heights, here are the tallies this winter for four other neighborhoods whose sidewalks were slammed the most:
► Prospect Heights: 62.7 calls/mile²
► East Village: 56.3 calls/mile²
► Park Slope: 54.4 calls/mile²
► Clinton Hill: 50.3 calls/mile²
► Yorkville: 41.0 calls/mile²
Why have the sidewalks in these neighborhoods generated so much scorn and censure?
RentHop's study suggests "slothful shovelers" living there are at fault, but there could be other factors at play, like the varying amount of snowfall in different neighborhoods, the likeliness of local residents to register a 311 complaint and the kinds of housing stock found there.
"I think it takes both snow on the ground, as well as a predisposition to complain to have one area lead the way," said Shane Leese, RentHop's data scientist.
