No Surprise Here, NYC Will Contest The 2010 Census Count

While Senator Schumer was doing his Sunday press thang and blasting the U.S. Census count for NYC, Mayor Bloomberg, fresh from his turn as Spider-Mike, announced that the City is going to formally contest the count. "We believe that errors have occurred in putting together the Census results for Brooklyn and Queens," he said in a release. "It seems evident to us that something incongruous happened in the Census count in these two boroughs."

The challenge, technically a "Count Question Resolution," would occur in June and would not include a recount. Instead it would be a review of errors in the existing data.
"They can't go back out in the field," Joseph Salvo, the director of the population division at the city's Planning Department, explained to the Journal. "It would be looking for geographic errors or processing errors." The city successfully challenged the Census's 1990 count of New Yorkers.

A Count Question Resolution won't change the process of determining Congressional representation, but it will correct the population numbers that the feds use to apportion money our way. The city thinks the census was off by as much as 225,000 or more.

According to the 2010 Census Queens only grew by 0.1 percent (or 1,343 people) in the past decade and Brooklyn only grew by 1.6 percent (or 39,374 people). Which many in those boroughs find incredibly hard to believe. As Bloomberg explained:

Jackson Heights is a good example of the problems we've discovered. According to the Census Bureau, the population of Jackson Heights decreased—that's right, I said decreased—by nearly 5,200 people, or by about five percent, between the years 2000 and 2010.

They also found that here in Jackson Heights between 2000 and 2010, there was a drop of some 1,300 occupied units and an increase of 1,200 vacant units. In the Astoria and Steinway areas of Northwest Queens, the Census Bureau reported similar population declines and large increases in housing vacancies.

Everything we know about these neighborhoods tells a very different story. These are vibrant, vital communities. People who have tried to find apartments in these neighborhoods can confirm that there just isn't an abundance of vacancies.

So what seems possible to us is that the Census Bureau was unable to get in touch with immigrants, and others, who live here, and in other parts of Queens and Brooklyn. And then it simply recorded their homes as 'vacant.'

Anecdotally, we're also hearing from a number of people that they simply didn't fill out their census forms this year (or talk to anyone at their door) and therefore weren't counted (if you didn't participate: shame on you!). Which is interesting since according to the Census, participation in the decennial count was at 63 percent last year, up from a reported 60 percent in 2000.

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By Garth Johnston in News on March 28, 2011 12:44 PM

Comments [rss]

Lisanne!

I'd like to know where this map came from.

bkgirl

All I know is that I think I got counted ten times. They came every other day and sent several forms.

Guest

so Bloomberg acknowledges that areas with large "immigrant" populations are under-reported because certain "immigrants" are not inclined to respond to census forms or door-to-door workers. result: we lose federal aid and representation. yet many of those same people will reap public entitlements and use hospitals and schools -- its a sanctuary city double whammy.

Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

Bloombag should count the rise in homelessness.

randomtransplant

The population has risen dramatically in the counties around NYC since the early '90s & dropped below the birth rate here in the city itself.

Bloomberg certainly didn't give a damn about pricing people out of the boro's ten years ago - he only cares now because he needs their money to get through the recession/his 3rd term.

Stevennnn

The city is in denial people don't want to live in New York City anymore due to the quality of life declining dramatically.

cmdrogogov

quality of life has dropped and will continue to drop dramatically no matter where you go - that's a side-effect of over a trillion dollars going up in a puff of smoke and bankrupting half the world.

randomtransplant

Eh. Some places have seen their population gains & building booms continue through the recession. Some states and muni's arn't as broke as others.

Its one of the few advantages of such unequal income distribution within a global economy, in a strange way.

Len_Drexler

I don't know why the citywide number is that difficult to believe. The 2000 census was taken just as the tech bubble was popping. Banks hadn't started laying people off. The 2010 census was started about six months after economists said the recession ended.

vintagejames

If the population didn't go up in the past 10 years, where did all the fucking cars come from?

BottomlessChips

Government subsidizing your car purchases

cmdrogogov

and fuel, and roads.

BottomlessChips

Exactly

whitecastlerock

I agree with the findings for Jackson Heights-5,200 people relocated when wire transfer and check cashing establishments sprouted up like weeds.

BottomlessChips

The federal government failing at something? You don't say!

The Department of Commerce employees 140,000+ people. Unreal.

ahardy55

Please attempt to explain what the function of the Department of Commerce is. I'll wait. Then, please intelligently give an estimate as to how many employees you think they should have and why. Otherwise, you're just irrationally complaining at a large number.

BottomlessChips

The onus shouldn't be on me. It should be on the federal government, Department of Commerce, to justify its headcount and its existence.

From commerce.gov: The U.S. Department of Commerce has a broad mandate to advance economic growth and jobs and opportunities for the American people. It has cross cutting responsibilities in the areas of trade, technology, entrepreneurship, economic development, environmental stewardship and statistical research and analysis.

I find it hard to believe that bureaucrats can advance economic growth. So I can't see any justification for the Department in that capacity.

Where exactly has the Department of Commerce been for town XYZ in the past 3 years?

Should we attribute technological success to the DoC?

Its purpose in this regard is a bit ludicrous.

cmdrogogov

I suppose we should be relying on a crystal ball for all our statistics then - much like conservatives do for their economic ideologies.

BottomlessChips

I'm in favor of the Census. I just find their other premise kind of absurd.

randomtransplant

So you have a problem with the United State of America representing our business interests abroad to foreign markets?

Or is it just that you find it hard to believe that trade with china and Empire Zones have actually happened?