BY BEN VERDE
As time runs out on the
2020 Census and New York remains
undercounted, city offi
cials are hoping for a Hail
Mary play.
With just weeks left until
the count ends on Sept.
20, census workers are going
door to door in undercounted
neighborhoods, while offi cials
aim to get the word out on the
survey’s importance — while
dispelling some of the myths
that keep the count low.
“As a son of immigrants we
want to make sure we get the
message out, the importance
of fi lling out the census,” Public
Advocate Juumane Williams
said during a rally outside
Brooklyn Borough Hall
on Sept. 9. “The communities
that have the hardest to count
folks — from Black men, Black
children, to all immigrants
undocumented — those are
often the communities that
need the most services, and so
we are stuck here with needing
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the most services with
people who are most afraid of
fi lling out the census.”
The city currently hangs
around a response rate of 57.9
percent — roughly 5 percent
worse than the average response
rate nationwide. The
decennial count helps determine
the amount of federal
funding doled out to the city
and determine how many congressional
seats an area gets.
Census offi cials face an uphill
battle in 2020. Brooklyn’s
immigrant communities are
often distrustful of the federal
government and reluctant
to add their names and addresses
to any databases. Additionally,
the start of the census
count coincided with the
worst days of the coronavirus
pandemic in New York City,
making in-person canvassing
impossible for a while.
Adding to the challenge,
the Trump administration
shortened the count period
by a month, increasing the
likeliness that hard-to-reach
residents will go uncounted,
some charge.
While immigrant communities
have traditionally
been hard to count, census
workers have encountered
a new challenge during the
2020 count, with residents of
upper-crust neighborhoods
like Brooklyn Heights and
Cobble Hill fl eeing to their
country homes while offi ce
work remains remote. Ritzy
Brooklyn Heights currently
has a census self-response
rate of 64 percent, compared
to 75 percent during the 2010
Deputy Director of the city’s census effort Amit S. Bagga speaks at a
census event outside Brooklyn Borough Hall. Photo by Paul Frangipane
count, according to Amit S.
Bagga, deputy director of the
city’s census effort.
“If you are still a New
Yorker and you plan on being
back in New York City, make
sure to go to my2020census.
gov right now,” Bagga said.
“There is no greater, or simpler
or easier task that you
can do to demonstrate your
pride as a New Yorker and to
do your part on behalf of the
city that you love.”
Fill out the census at www.
my2020census.gov.
COUNTING UP
Offi cials make 11th hour plea for complete
count as census nears fi nish line
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