De Blasio Calls DOT Response To Council Speaker's Tweet 'Stupid'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio is weighing in on a Twitter exchange between City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the Department of Transportation.
On Tuesday, Mark-Viverito tweeted a picture of a broken pedestrian signal with a polite message to the agency, asking that it be repaired.
"It could have fallen on somebody crossing the street," crossing guard Maria Medina told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
The DOT responded, "Thanks for calling our office to let us know; crews have been notified."
Later adding, "For fastest response, pedestrian or traffic signal issues should always be reported immediately by calling 311. @NYC311."
The speaker wondered whether the response was a joke.
"I'm sorry...whaaaat??? This a joke? Or an auto response? Or maybe even an intern? Not a response for an elected," she tweeted.
When asked about the agency's response to the speaker, de Blasio said he thought it was "stupid."
"They should recognize if the speaker of the City Council, one of the leaders of city government, is raising an issue that obviously demands respect and demands attention," de Blasio said.
The mayor called it a "teachable moment," and said nobody, whether they're an elected official or civilian, deserves that kind of response.
"I think the response should always be that we're going to fix the problem right away," de Blasio said.
New York State Senator Tony Avella of Queens said it was de Blasio's fault.
He said the mayor's office directed department heads to push 311 even for elected officials, even though many complaints are too complicated to fit 311's framework.
"Well what he should do then is direct all his city agencies, which he is responsible for, to tell them to start responding to elected officials, not telling them to cal 311," he said.
Some city residents said they wish they could be surprised that the speaker was treated that way, but they said the reply tweet is exactly what they go through.
"Now she gets to understand how we feel int he community when we need help," Linda Ortiz said.
There was no apology from the DOT who said its tweets are not auto-generated, a person wrote it, and followed up by tweeting Mark-Viverito that the problem would be fixed, and then it was.
The speaker had no further comment on the exchange. A spokesperson said the tweets speak for themselves, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
The city council -- at Mark Viverito's request -- may hold hearings to investigate how complaints are handled.
