How to report a street light out in NYC

• Light out. The lamp stays dark after dusk.
• Light on in daylight. The lamp burns through the day, which is a control fault.
• Flickering or cycling. The lamp turns on and off repeatedly.
• Damaged fixture. The head is broken, hanging, or missing its cover.
• Leaning or hit pole. The pole is bent, knocked out of line, or struck by a vehicle.

An exposed wire, a sparking fixture, or an open pole base is a live electrical hazard. Do not touch the pole and do not stand at its base. Call 911 and report it to the utility. Do not use this page for that. The 311 street light path is for a lighting defect, not an emergency.

One block can hold many poles, so the city needs the exact one. Include as much of this as you can:

• Pole number. Read it from the tag or stamped plate on the pole shaft.
• Nearest address. The building the pole stands in front of.
• Cross streets. The two corners of the block.
• Side of the street. For example, the north side, or the park side.

• Show the pole in its block. A wide photo tells the crew where to go.
• Photograph the tag. A readable pole number is the single most useful detail.
• For a light out, shoot after dark. A photo with the nearby lamps lit and this one dark makes the fault obvious.
• For damage, shoot in daylight. The broken part must be visible.

The city gives you a Service Request Number when you submit on portal.311.nyc.gov. Keep it and check the status there. We do not quote a repair time, because the city publishes no single clock for this work. File again if the light is still out after several weeks, and tell your community board when a whole corridor stays dark.