Open NY Expands to 69 Localities Sharing Open Data

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that 64 more local governments across the state have signed up to share their data on open.ny.gov, a new and comprehensive data transparency website – just three days after its launch at the start of Sunshine Week, a national initiative designed to raise awareness about the importance of open government. With five localities already sharing data on the site, today’s announcement means that 69 localities statewide have now signed up to participate in open.ny.gov.

Open.ny.gov provides user-friendly, one-stop access to data for the first time from New York State agencies, localities, and the federal government. It features economic development, recreation, health, and public services information in a format that is retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications.

“With the launch of open.ny.gov, New York State has taken another step toward greater transparency in government,” Governor Cuomo said. “In addition to reducing costs and housing data for localities, this website helps connect government on all levels with the people it serves. I’m pleased to announce 64 additional local governments have pledged to participate in open.ny.gov, and I encourage others to join us in making government more accessible to all New Yorkers.”

Open.ny.gov has been offered as a resource to localities across the state, which will give citizens unified access to government data and help local governments cut down costs and improve efficiency in addition to increasing transparency. Open.ny.gov can help local governments by fostering research, promoting informed decision-making, and enhancing collaboration based on public data. It also provides localities with increased technical capacity to make their data public. The State will provide assistance to all localities that choose to use the service.

At Monday’s launch, five local governments – the Counties of Essex, Oneida, Onondaga, and Suffolk as well as the City of Albany – had already begun sharing their data on the website. Only three days later, an additional 15 counties, 22 cities, 25 towns, and seven villages have signed up to join open.ny.gov and share their data with the public. Following today’s announcement, the state Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) will now work with the 64 new partner localities to post their data at open.ny.gov. New data will be available on a rolling basis.

Local governments interested in participating in open.ny.gov can send an email to opendata@its.ny.gov.

A list of all participating localities is below:

1. Albany County
2. Broome County
3. Chemung County
4. Clinton County
5. Dutchess County
6. Essex County
7. Franklin County
8. Oneida County
9. Onondaga County
10. Ontario County
11. Orange County
12. Nassau County
13. Suffolk County
14. Tompkins County
15. Ulster County
16. City of Albany
17. City of Amsterdam
18. City of Canandaigua
19. City of Cortland
20. City of Glen Cove
21. City of Hornell
22. City of Ithaca
23. City of Jamestown
24. City of Kingston
25. City of Long Beach
26. City of Middletown
27. City of Mount Vernon
28. City of New York
29. City of Niagara Falls
30. City of Norwich
31. City of Olean
32. City of Oswego
33. City of Rochester
34. City of Rome
35. City of Schenectady
36. City of Utica
37. City of Yonkers
38. Town Chesterfield
39. Town of Babylon
40. Town of Brighton
41. Town of Brookhaven
42. Town of Chesterfield
43. Town of Chili
44. Town of Colonie
45. Town of East Hampton
46. Town of Hamilton
47. Town of Huntington
48. Town of Islip
49. Town of Jay
50. Town of Minerva
51. Town of North Hempstead
52. Town of Plattsburgh
53. Town of Potsdam
54. Town of Ramapo
55. Town of Riverhead
56. Town of Salina
57. Town of Smithtown
58. Town of Southampton
59. Town of Tonawanda
60. Town of Union
61. Town of Vestal
62. Town of West Seneca
63. Village of Aurora
64. Village of Canastota
65. Village of Gouverneur
66. Village of Johnson City
67. Village of Massapequa Park
68. Village of North Syracuse
69. Village of Saranac Lake
Peter Baynes, Executive Director of New York Conference of Mayors, said, “The Governor’s open.ny.gov website offers an abundance of valuable data from the state and federal government — and eventually, from those local governments that choose to participate. In addition to fostering transparency, municipal officials will be able to use this data for their own research and to assist them in making informed decisions. Furthermore, allowing the public to easily access this data may reduce the time and resources currently spent on responding to requests for such information. This website is a useful tool for sharing, comparing and reviewing facts and figures from all levels of government and I encourage NYCOM members to take advantage of all it has to offer.”

Gerry Geist, Executive Director of Association of Towns, said, “Governor Cuomo’s open.ny.gov is a clearinghouse for governmental data, whether it is smart apps, agency contacts, or statistical information. It is a valuable resource for town residents and officials that will only become more important as time passes.”