Where do you turn when you want to know what condition your child’s school building is in, if the local playground is in good repair or how clean the streets in your neighborhood are compared to those in other communities?

Answers about those and the state of other basic City services are in the “Mayor’s Management Report.” It’s designed to be a public report card on the performance of City agencies. And the latest MMR, makes it easier than ever for average New Yorkers to get information about City agencies, and judge how well and how cost effectively they’re functioning.

By and large, City agencies are doing a remarkable job. The current MMR covers the twelve months ending in July. We all recognize that was one of the most difficult periods in New York history. Nevertheless, for the most part the performance of City agencies either improved or remained stable. For example, major felony crimes continued to fall, down 9 percent since last year and by 31percent since 1998, and homicides fell 10 percent this year. The response time by police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel was cut; deaths from tuberculosis declined; so did complaints about potholes in City streets. Those achievements make New York a better city for all of us.

The new MMR is itself a major step forward in making City government more open and accountable. It is more user-friendly than MMRs of the past in three significant ways. First, it’s slimmer, better organized and written in plain, understandable language. Second, it’s more sharply focused on measuring success or failure in delivering City services, and that gives New Yorkers a clearer picture of what really matters to us. And third, it makes innovative use of the latest information technology. For the first time, selected data from the MMR has been computer mapped.

That permits anyone logging on to the City’s website at www.nyc.gov to evaluate the work of City agencies anywhere in the Big Apple. Just click on the phrase “My Neighborhood Stats” on the City’s home page, type in a street address, and you can find performance indicators about parks, police, schools and other City services in that neighborhood and compare them to other communities across the City.

Efficiency in City services is more important than ever. We’re in an era when every agency has to do more with less. City employees are working hard to do just that. And the information available in the new MMR will help every New Yorker judge how well we’re doing our jobs.#