FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 7, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
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A Q&A on the Census
BY JULIE MENIN
What is the Census? Th e U.S. Constitution
mandates a population count every 10 years
of everyone residing in the United States, and
the fi rst census was conducted in 1790.
Th e population totals from the 2020 census
determine the number of Congressional
representatives, and states use these totals to
redraw their legislative districts. Th e federal
government also allocates more than $700 billion
nationwide based on this decennial data.
What’s at stake? We are fi ghting for our
fair share of the $700 billion allocation. If we
don’t get an accurate headcount, we could lose
funding for our public schools, senior centers,
public housing, Medicaid, roads and bridges,
and much more!
How does New York City compare to the
rest of the country? While we lead in many
issues, we are far behind when it comes to the
Census. In 2010, the initial response rate for
New York City was 61.9%, compared to 76%
nationwide. We know we can do better than
this. We are motivated by the Washington
Heights neighborhood that reached a remarkable
78.5%. Th ey made a conscious eff ort to
organize their community around the Census
and achieve a high response rate.
Is there anything new about the 2020
Census compared to 2010? For the fi rst time
ever, the U.S. Census Bureau is accepting survey
responses online and over the phone. We
are excited that technology is being incorporated
to bring the Census survey into the 21st
century. Th is is also the fi rst Census that will
recognize same-sex relationships.
What’s happening with the citizenship
question? For the fi rst time in 70 years,
a question has been added by the Trump
Administration asking “Are you a U.S. citizen?”
Th e New York City Law Department,
along with the New York State Attorney
General’s Offi ce and other states and cities,
fi led a lawsuit challenging the citizenship
question as unlawful.
We were very pleased on Jan. 15 that Judge
Jesse Furman rendered an opinion, striking
down the citizenship question as violating
the Administrative Procedures Act. Th e
case is now going to the U.S. Supreme Court
and oral arguments will be heard in April. We
remain confi dent that the facts and law are
on our side.
What does the Census timeline look like?
In mid-March 2020, every household will
receive a notice in the mail to fi ll out the
Census survey. Th ere are additional notices
aft er that, and if a household does not respond
aft er several attempts, the Census Bureau will
send doorknockers in May to visit individual
households to collect the data. Our goal is to
encourage self-response as early as possible.
So what’s next? Our role as the Mayor’s
Offi ce for the Census is to coordinate new
and existing eff orts among civic, community,
labor, faith-based, and all relevant stakeholders
to get every New Yorker counted and
make certain that New York City gets its fair
share. Th e future of our City depends on the
Census. We’re counting on you to help us get
everyone counted!
Menin is the director of the Mayor’s Offi ce
for the Census and Executive Assistant
Corporation Counsel for Strategic Advocacy.
THE SPECIAL ELECTION
RUNAROUND
I went to the Board of Elections
(BOE) polling site at Kew Gardens
Hills’ Vleigh Place library on Feb.
26, hoping to cast my vote in the
special election for public advocate.
Even though this is the nearest site to
my home (at 138th Street and 77th
Avenue), BOE workers gave me a referral
slip to vote at P.S. 165 (70th Avenue
and 150th Street), further away.
When I asked why, they said this is a
“temporary” voting site for my neighborhood
until our
permanent site at P.S. 164 (across the
street from me) becomes accessible to
disabled voters. When might that be, I
inquired. “Ask your City Councilman,”
replied the BOE worker.
In fact, I asked Rory Lancman that
question at the library’s reopening ceremony
in September 2017. He promised
me it would be ready in time for
last fall’s general election. It still isn’t,
nearly four months later.
Th e BOE, which I call the Board of
Rejections, is hopelessly inept. But its
workers consoled me by handing out
an “I Voted” sticker, which I rewrote
to read: “I tried to vote.” I hope that I
don’t have to repeat this pathetic process
in June.
Richard Reif, Kew Gardens Hills
A FLAWED DEBATE
OVER AMAZON
Th e manner in which Amazon withdrew
from the agreement to locate its
HQ2 in New York City illustrates just
how bad the deal was. Amazon was
unwilling to negotiate, compromise, or
adapt. Were it to have moved to New
York City, we would have been held
hostage to their demands. Consider,
for example, its threat to halt construction
on a new facility in Seattle,
its home base, if a tax it opposed was
implemented.
Amazon sent several postcards to
Long Island City residents that promised
it would be a good neighbor and
listen. It did not, however, provide
a way for us to contact them and
voice our concerns. Instead, it provided
us with phone numbers for City
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and
state Senator Michael Gianaris so we
could call and tell them to support the
deal. Th at sounds more like telling us
to do their bidding than listening.
Th e portion of Long Island City
where Amazon planned to locate,
Hunters Point, has a population of
approximately 29,000, according to the
last census. Amazon’s HQ2 would have
nearly doubled that. In addition to
transit upgrades, the area would experience
a radical increase in demand for
police, fi re, sanitation, and emergency
services, as well as increased strain
on its water and sewage lines, electrical
supply, and street traffi c. Th e arteries
leading to it would have crawled to
a stop.
Anable Basin, where Amazon intended
to build, lies within a fl ood plain;
serving Amazon during the next superstorm
would divert resources from the
homes and businesses already in Long
Island City. Real estate would become
too expensive for the people who live
and work there, and those who managed
to remain would not be able to
aff ord to buy groceries or other essentials
locally. And let’s not forget the
helipad, further burdening and endangering
Long Island City beyond the
helicopter traffi c it already endures.
Yes, we lost 25,000 jobs. Remember,
however, that Google brought in
50,000 jobs without cloak and dagger
negotiations, without tax incentives,
and without disrupting a community.
Yes, we lost the tax revenue those jobs
would have brought, but the value is
not as high as presented.
Governor Cuomo and Mayor
DeBlasio apparently did little to advise
Amazon on what New York is like.
Th ey couched the debate in terms of
tax incentives vs. new jobs, ignoring
the other questionable aspects of the
deal, as if the people most directly
aff ected would not mind being sacrifi
ced in its wake.
Is this what we could look forward to
— manipulative politicians and blindsided
media, all in the name of glitzy
proposals? Th e only real losers in the
collapse of the deal are Citicorp, which
lost the tenants it hoped would fi ll the
Long Island City building it’s abandoning
and the Plaxall family, which must
fi nd a new buyer for its land.
Marie Gangemi, Long Island City
GOING VEGAN FOR LENT
March 6 marked the beginning of
Lent, the period before Easter, when
devout Christians abstain from animal
foods in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days
of fasting in the wilderness.
Th e call to abstain from eating
animals is as traditional as Genesis
1:29, yet as current as the teaching of
evangelical leader Franklin Graham.
Methodist founder John Wesley,
Salvation Army pioneers William
and Catherine Booth, and Seventhday
Adventist Church founder Ellen
White, all followed the divine call.
A plant-based diet is not just about
Christian devotion. Dozens of medical
studies have linked consumption of
animal products with elevated risk of
heart failure, stroke, cancer, and other
killer diseases. A United Nations report
named meat production as the largest
source of greenhouse gases and water
pollution. Undercover investigations
have documented routine mutilation,
deprivation, and beating of animals on
factory farms.
Today’s supermarkets off er a rich
array of plant-based meats, milks,
cheeses, and ice creams, as well as traditional
vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Entering “vegan” in our favorite search
engine provides lots of suitable products,
recipes, and transition tips.
Freddy Green, Flushing
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