NYC Problem Sensitivity and Judgment 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A city employee in a public-facing role observes a citizen who becomes suddenly unresponsive at a service counter. The employee should FIRST:
- Ask nearby citizens if they know the person
- Call 911 immediately and begin basic first aid if trained (Correct answer)
- Move the person to a waiting area and contact a supervisor
- Continue serving other clients while waiting for emergency services to arrive on their own
Correct answer: Call 911 immediately and begin basic first aid if trained
A sudden unresponsive person is a medical emergency requiring 911 to be called immediately and first aid administered if the employee is trained.
Question 2: An employee at a city agency's front desk notices that a citizen appears to be reading documents on another citizen's file that were left unattended. The best immediate response is to:
- Wait to see if the citizen takes any documents before intervening
- Politely but promptly secure the documents and remind the citizen about privacy rules (Correct answer)
- Shout a warning to the citizen in front of other waiting individuals
- File a complaint after the citizen leaves
Correct answer: Politely but promptly secure the documents and remind the citizen about privacy rules
Promptly and discreetly securing the documents protects privacy without causing an embarrassing public confrontation.
Question 3: A city employee who handles contracts notices that a coworker's close relative owns one of the vendors being considered for award. The employee should:
- Award the contract based purely on the bid score and ignore the relationship
- Disclose the potential conflict of interest to a supervisor or ethics officer immediately (Correct answer)
- Ask the coworker privately if there is actually a conflict
- Recuse themselves without telling anyone to avoid embarrassing the coworker
Correct answer: Disclose the potential conflict of interest to a supervisor or ethics officer immediately
Potential conflicts of interest in contracting must be disclosed to ethics authorities immediately to maintain procurement integrity.
Question 4: During a neighborhood outreach event, an NYC employee receives a complaint from a resident about a condition that falls outside the employee's agency's jurisdiction. The employee should:
- Tell the resident the issue is not their problem and move on
- Listen, record the complaint details, and direct the resident to the correct agency or 311 (Correct answer)
- Attempt to resolve the issue personally even without authority to do so
- Tell the resident to submit a written complaint and wait
Correct answer: Listen, record the complaint details, and direct the resident to the correct agency or 311
Listening, recording the complaint, and directing residents to the correct resource demonstrates good judgment and maintains public trust in city government.
Question 5: A fire department administrative employee discovers that a public fire hydrant on a city block has been reported as blocked by a parked vehicle for three consecutive days but no enforcement action has been taken. The employee should:
- Assume the situation has been handled and take no further action
- Escalate the unresolved report to a supervisor and the relevant traffic enforcement unit (Correct answer)
- Contact the vehicle owner directly to move the car
- Post a sign on the hydrant reminding drivers of the law
Correct answer: Escalate the unresolved report to a supervisor and the relevant traffic enforcement unit
A chronically blocked fire hydrant is an unresolved public safety issue requiring escalation to ensure enforcement action is taken.
Question 6: A city agency manager receives feedback from three different employees in one week that a new policy is causing significant confusion and unintended errors. The most effective response is to:
- Dismiss the feedback since employees must simply adapt to new policies
- Acknowledge the pattern, convene a brief team meeting to clarify the policy, and report the issue to policy drafters (Correct answer)
- Wait for the confusion to resolve naturally over time
- Discipline employees who are making errors under the new policy
Correct answer: Acknowledge the pattern, convene a brief team meeting to clarify the policy, and report the issue to policy drafters
A pattern of confusion across multiple employees signals a systemic issue with the policy itself that requires clarification and feedback to those who drafted it.
Question 7: An NYC sanitation supervisor notices that garbage collection on one route is consistently taking 40% longer than average with no obvious reason. The supervisor should:
- Do nothing since the route still gets completed each day
- Investigate potential causes — route conditions, crew size, equipment issues — and adjust resources accordingly (Correct answer)
- Discipline the crew for inefficiency without investigation
- Simply extend the shift to cover the extra time indefinitely
Correct answer: Investigate potential causes — route conditions, crew size, equipment issues — and adjust resources accordingly
A consistent performance gap on one route signals an underlying operational problem that must be investigated and corrected, not ignored or punished without cause.
NYC Problem Sensitivity and Judgment 4
A city employee in a public-facing role observes a citizen who becomes suddenly unresponsive at a service counter.
The employee should FIRST: