Making Sense of the Census
COURIER L 12 IFE, JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020
Nostro Ristorante, an Italian eatery on Greenwood Height’s Fifth Avenue, opened for outdoor
dining on June 22. Photo by Jessica Parks
Working it out
Eateries face roadblocks as
restaurants now go al fresco
BY JESSICA PARKS
As New York City transitioned into
Phase Two of its reopening on June 22,
hair salons and restaurants have been
given the green light to open their doors,
Brooklyn business leaders said.
“Phase Two is more of a real reopening
than Phase One,” said Marc Caserta,
executive director of the Park Slope
Business Improvement District. “It has
more potential to draw more customers
and bring more businesses muchneeded
income.”
In the second phase, eateries are allowed
to open some outdoor seating on
the sidewalk and in the parking spaces
in front of their businesses, and salons,
offi ce buildings, and playgrounds can
open to the public once again.
Business leaders said restaurants situated
on attractive business corridors
are happy to open outdoor dining space,
but that isn’t the case for many restaurants
located underneath elevated subway
lines or highways.
“Even if it’s approved … I am not
sure if they would have customers willing
to sit under the subway,” said Yelena
Makhnin, the executive director of the
Brighton Beach Business Improvement
District.
Most eateries on Brighton Beach Avenue,
where many restaurants sit under
the subway line, are waiting for Phase
Three to allow for indoor dining, and
are instead choosing to continue doing
take-out and delivery in the interim, she
said.
“Unfortunately, outdoor dining is
not going to be very helpful in our area,”
she said. “Many restaurants still have
signs saying takeout and delivery only.”
Space is also a deterrent for a number
of restaurants, as city guidelines only allow
them to operate two outdoor dining
tables in front of their space, and eateries
located near bus lanes don’t have the
option to expand into the street.
“It doesn’t treat all restaurants
equally, let’s be clear,” said Randy Peers,
head of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
“If you, for example, happen to
be fronting a bus lane or a through lane
for traffi c, you cannot appropriate that
space for outdoor dining.”
He added that growing the city’s open
streets program is crucial to many restaurant’s
success with outdoor dining.
“We defi nitely support expanding
the open streets program to reasonably
accommodating as many restaurant areas
as possible,” Peers said.
The business leaders commended
the city’s application process for outdoor
dining as seamless and said the costs to
restaurant owners in making the transition
were minimal.
“You can use your existing furniture
and move it outdoors,” Peers said.
“Where I think you are going to have
additional costs are with your barriers
and barricades.”
Meanwhile, hair salons and barbershops,
who have been closed since the
state-ordered shut down in March, are
reopening en masse as they had more
time to prepare for the new operating
regulations, according to the groups.
“They are excited to be back, they
have been waiting for this,” Caserta
said, adding that most of the salons
on Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue have reopened.
“The rules about how to operate
properly have been out for quite a while,
so they have been preparing for longer
and getting the right supplies.”
By Jumaane Williams, New
York City Public Advocate and Julie
Menin, Director of NYC Census 2020
From this country’s founding,
the census has been abused as a tool
of oppression. From the “Three-
Fifths” compromise, to the weaponization
of the census during Jim
Crow, to the undercounting of Black
communities across America today,
the census has robbed Black Americans
of resources and attempted to
strip them of their humanity.
But the census can also be an instrument
of justice, if – and only if
– all New Yorkers are counted. Our
commitment to count every household
in this city is a commitment
to ensure that Black communities
across New York get the resources
and the representation they are
owed.
The census is a civil rights issue.
While the current protests for Black
lives were sparked by George Floyd
and Breonna Taylor’s murders at
the hands of police, the reasons for
protest run beyond any individual
action or issue. In New York City
and across the country, we have
seen centuries of systemic racial
inequality in housing, education,
health care, and so much more. The
census directly funds programs
that serve to address these inequities.
Census data is used to determine
Title I funding to schools. Section
8 Housing Choice Vouchers are
funded by census-derived data. As
the energy driving these protests
can and must drive change in many
areas, it must also drive New York
City towards a complete census
count.
The census isn’t only about
funding – It’s about representation.
It determines how many seats,
how many voices, we have in the
House of Representatives. Amid the
COVID-19 response and recovery,
and the federal action it demands,
we will need as many advocates as
we can get in the halls of Congress.
But if we are undercounted, we
risk losing up to two seats across
the state. And if those seats are
carved out of predominantly Black
neighborhoods, it will inevitably
mean another setback for combating
the many urgent inequities we
face in New York. Accurate representation
at every level of government,
including the city and state,
is also contingent upon the census.
Many of the reforms currently being
pushed and passed would not be
possible without a complete and accurate
census.
Right now, we are seeing a significant
range of levels of census
self-response among New York City
neighborhoods with large Black and
Pan-African communities. Some,
like Co-Op City (self-response rate
of 68.3% as of June 11) and Starrett
City (62.9%), far outpace much of
the city. But others, like Wakefield
(43.8%), Jamaica (44.2%), and Canarsie
(44.0%), are below the city’s
total rate. If Black New Yorkers
don’t complete the census, it could
be one fewer member of the Congressional
Black Caucus representing
the five boroughs. We cannot let
that happen.
The COVID-19 crisis also demonstrates
how when neighborhoods
are undercounted, we lose critical
community resources. This year,
we witnessed Elmhurst Hospital
and our broader health system be
stretched to the brink and beyond
during a global pandemic, with resources
scarce and lives lost.
In our most recent census in 2010,
New York City had a self-response
rate that trailed the national rate
by 14 percentage points. This time
around, our census self-response
rate still trails the nation, now by
9 percentage points. The good news
is that since May, we are gaining
ground each day. With every New
Yorker’s help, we will continue to
close that gap.
We need all hands on deck for
the census. It’s one tool, but an important
one, toward rebuilding after
COVID-19 and our city centers
Black lives. In just ten minutes, by
visiting My2020Census.gov, or by
calling 844-330-2020, you can complete
the census – one concrete action
to help get Black New Yorkers
the resources and representation,
the voice and the vote, they deserve.
“Making Sense of the Census” is
a weekly column from Julie Menin,
Director of NYC Census 2020. Every
week we will be publishing pieces
from Julie and guest authors laying
out the facts and answering tough
questions about this year’s census.
Fill out the census now at my2020census.
gov.
The Fight
for a Full
Census
Count is a
Civil Rights
Battle
/My2020Census.gov