How to hit the NYC Open Data (Socrata) API

NYC Open Data runs on Socrata: each dataset has an id and is queried with SoQL, a SQL-like query language, in $-prefixed parameters. The same API works for hundreds of other government open-data portals.

Authentication

None for light use. A free app token in the X-App-Token header raises the rate limit.

Full reference: https://dev.socrata.com/

Recent 311 requests

Dataset erm2-nwe9 is 311 service requests.

curl "https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/erm2-nwe9.json?\$limit=2&\$order=created_date%20DESC"
Run in PostTaco
Example response (trimmed) 
[
  {
    "unique_key": "70494461",
    "created_date": "2026-09-22T02:07:09.000",
    "agency": "DOT",
    "agency_name": "Department of Transportation",
    "complaint_type": "Street Condition",
    "descriptor": "Pothole",
    "incident_zip": "11101",
    "incident_address": "40 ROAD",
    "street_name": "40 ROAD",
    "cross_street_1": "29 STREET",
    "cross_street_2": "NORTHERN BOULEVARD",
    "address_type": "BLOCKFACE",
    "city": "QUEENS",
    "facility_type": "N/A",
    "status": "Open"
  },
  {
    "unique_key": "70498736",
    "created_date": "2026-09-22T01:54:04.000",
    "agency": "DOT",
    "agency_name": "Department of Transportation",
    "complaint_type": "Street Condition",
    "descriptor": "Pothole",
    "incident_zip": "11415",
    "incident_address": "QUEENS BOULEVARD",
    "street_name": "QUEENS BOULEVARD",
    "cross_street_1": "VWE NORTHBOUND EXIT    9",
    "cross_street_2": "83 AVENUE",
    "address_type": "BLOCKFACE",
    "city": "QUEENS",
    "facility_type": "N/A",
    "status": "Open"
  }
]

Count by complaint type

SoQL $select and $group work like SQL.

curl "https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/erm2-nwe9.json?\$select=complaint_type,count(*)&\$group=complaint_type&\$order=count(*)%20DESC&\$limit=5"
Run in PostTaco
Example response (trimmed) 
[
  {
    "complaint_type": "Illegal Parking",
    "count": "2930884"
  },
  {
    "complaint_type": "Noise - Residential",
    "count": "2560765"
  }
]