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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 9-OCT. 15, 2020 7
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
New Yorkers will have at least a
few more days to get counted in the
2020 Census and raise the city’s self-response
rate, after a judge ruled to reject
President Donald Trump’s attempt to
cut it short by a month.
Julie Menin, Director of NYC Census
2020 and Executive Assistant Corporation
Counsel, NYC Law Department
said they applaud U.S. District
Judge Lucy Koh in California for her
decision — which noted a premature
end date for the census could lead to an
inaccurate count, among other consequences.
“We applaud the Ninth Circuit for
its decision to uphold Judge Koh’s ruling
and reject the Trump Administration’s
latest attempt to cut the 2020 Census
short,” Menin said. “With the law
on our side, we are confident that the
nation’s courts will continue to find the
Trump Administration’s repeated attempts
to manipulate and undermine
the census to be illegal and unconstitutional,
and we will not be deterred
in our efforts to ensure that every New
Yorker is counted.”
In July, the president sent a memorandum
that attempted to bar undocumented
immigrants from being counted
— but several Queens electeds called
him out on the attempt and promised
legal action.
The Department of Commerce,
which oversees the census, said Oct. 5
will be the last date for the self-response
portion of the process.
Currently, New York’s self-response
rate is at 63.6 percent, with the national
average at 66.6 percent.
On Thursday, Oct. 1, Mayor Bill de
Blasio said the city’s Census team is
gearing up for more outreach in places
in Queens and Brooklyn with low response
rates.
“The gap between us and the national
average rate is 5.6 percent. That
is a lot less than it was in 2010 and even
earlier this year,” de Blasio said. “That
gap is crucial, because remember the
results are comparative — the better
you do against the national average,
the more resources you get. So we’ve
done well, especially in the context of
the pandemic.”
The push to get all Queens residents
counted continues. In western Queens,
response rates vary depending on the
neighborhood.
But according to the rates by congressional
districts, response rates are
mostly hovering below the statewide
average.
Congresswoman Grace Meng pointed
out District 6 is at a 65 percent self
response rate, which is above the state’s
rate but still below the national rate.
“For more than two years, I have
emphasized how vital it is for New
Yorkers to participate in the census. I
cannot overstate the importance of accurate
and reliable census data,” Meng
told QNS.
To help ensure a complete and accurate
count, the Congresswoman has
partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau,
NYC Census 2020 and local community
organizations in calling for constituents
to complete the census.
Neighboring District 14, represented
by Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, is at a 61 percent self response
rate.
The district, split between the Bronx
and northern Queens, has some of the
borough’s most hard to count populations
— not to mention those hardest
hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
District 12, represented by Carolyn
Maloney, is at 60 percent self-response
rate. The district encompasses distinct
neighborhoods of Queens, Manhattan
and Brooklyn.
The NYC Census 2020 team is still
conducting campaigns to boost response
rates, including the “Battle of
the Boroughs” that is meant to create
opportunities for New Yorkers to support
local restaurants, while mobilizing
their communities to get out the
census count via email, mail, or phone.
The winning borough will have the
highest self-response rate increase between
September 23 and Oct. 5.
The census takes less than ten minutes
to fill out and is available online at
2020census.gov.
Most census response rates in
western Queens below average
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