Say you are walking around mid-town NYC and you see a leaking hydrant.
Or suppose you are somewhere in Brooklyn NY and you see some graffiti that needs to be cleaned up.
Perhaps you are a bird watcher, and spot an unusual bird.
Open your Citizen Reporter iPhone app, choose an appropriate data set that you want to post to, enter the data about the situation and submit it.
Soon people at the associated department will be alerted to it, and your input (and in the future, a picture) will have joined the public data.
You are then on your way, with that warm feeling of having helped your community in your pocket!