endpoint <- "https://data.cityofnewyork.us/api/v3/views/erm2-nwe9/query.json?query=SELECT%20unique_key%2C%20created_date%2C%20closed_date%2C%20agency%2C%20agency_name%2C%20complaint_type%2C%20descriptor%2C%20descriptor_2%2C%20location_type%2C%20incident_zip%2C%20incident_address%2C%20street_name%2C%20cross_street_1%2C%20cross_street_2%2C%20intersection_street_1%2C%20intersection_street_2%2C%20address_type%2C%20city%2C%20landmark%2C%20facility_type%2C%20status%2C%20due_date%2C%20resolution_description%2C%20resolution_action_updated_date%2C%20community_board%2C%20council_district%2C%20police_precinct%2C%20bbl%2C%20borough%2C%20x_coordinate_state_plane%2C%20y_coordinate_state_plane%2C%20open_data_channel_type%2C%20park_facility_name%2C%20park_borough%2C%20vehicle_type%2C%20taxi_company_borough%2C%20taxi_pick_up_location%2C%20bridge_highway_name%2C%20bridge_highway_direction%2C%20road_ramp%2C%20bridge_highway_segment%2C%20latitude%2C%20longitude%2C%20location%20WHERE%20((%60incident_zip%60%20%3D%20'11232')%20OR%20(upper(%60incident_zip%60)%20LIKE%20'%2511220%25'))%20AND%20%60created_date%60%20%3E%3D%20'2026-05-01'%20AND%20%60created_date%60%20%3C%20'2026-05-26'%20ORDER%20BY%20created_date%20DESC"
resp <- httr::GET(endpoint)
data <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
httr::content(resp, as = "text"),
flatten = TRUE
)Exploring Sunset Park Neighborhood
Sunset Park Neighborhood and its Top Problems Reported to 311 in May 2026
Introduction
Sunset Park is a neighborhood known for its diverse Latino community, sandwiched between Park Slope and Bay Ridge. It has since become a popular neighborhood to explore because of its iconic park that allows people to view Manhattan, Industry City, authentic Mexican and Chinese food, and Bush Terminal Piers Park.
As a resident of Sunset Park, I know how wonderful the neighborhood is. But as every neighborhood, we understand that there may be some problems that arise among our neighbors. Today we aim to explore how this neighborhood has been functioning in this month through 311 service request. 311 allows residents to report any issues that arise.
In this exploration, we use the NYC Open Data to examine what kind of issues are most commonly reported in Sunset Park. If you would like to explore the data set, please click Here.
Data Set
Here I will take some time to talk about the data. The data set was filtered before downloading. What I did was filter under “incident zip” column so I could only get data from the 11220 and 11232 zip codes. These two zip codes make up Sunset Park. I also went on to filter under “created date” column to get data from May of 2026. Together, this data now contained over 3,353 service requests.
Top 10 Complaints in Sunset Park
I first start off by visualizing the top 10 complaints in Sunset Park. I chose to report on 10 instead of all to avoid a messy visual.
As we can see, there are some complaints that are much higher. The top three complaints were illegal parking, outside noise, and inside noise. But we also see that conditions of everyday life such as unsanitary, lack of heat and/or hot water, and dirty and street conditions are in the top 10 complains. This suggests that 311 services were requested by everyday pressures of living such as noise, sanitation, and living conditions.
Top 10 Complaint Types by Zip Code
Here, I decided to explore the top 10 complaint types by zip code. The reason I decided to do this was because the zip code 11232 is known to cover parts of sunset that contains less populated areas and more car usage. Zip code 11220 covers more commercialize areas and more populated areas.
We now are able to see which zip code seems to request more 311 services. Although the top 3 complaint types remain the same, it allows us to see which zip code often request the most 311 services. The zip code that is known to be more commercialized tended to request the most 311 services, which makes sense considering it is more populated.
Conclusion
Zip codes 11220 and 11232 make up the Sunset Park Neighborhood. 311 service requests reveals a pattern of noise complains since we have seen it come up the most. We also see that everyday living conditions such as sanitation concerns, quality of life conditions (lack of heat and/or hot water, and living conditions were among the top complains. This short exploration of Sunset Park allowed us to dive in deeper and understand what type of complains arise in a popular neighborhood in Brooklyn.