You are reading

Census Count Will End Thursday After Supreme Court Ruling

(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Oct. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin

New Yorkers — and all Americans — have just one more day to fill out their Census survey after the Supreme Court approved its early termination in a ruling yesterday.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of President Donald Trump Tuesday and allowed the administration to cut the count early, before its original Oct. 31 end date. The Court approved an emergency request from the Justice Department to suspend a lower court decision that extended the Census count through the end of the month.

Hours after the court decision was announced, the Census Bureau said it would continue accepting responses on its website through tomorrow until 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time — or 5:59 a.m. Thursday in New York.

The bureau will also cease door knocking and collecting phone responses after tomorrow, it said in a statement. Mailed Census responses must be postmarked by Oct. 15 as well.

Concerned citizens worry that the cutting the Census short will mean not every person will be rightfully counted, which could hurt local communities for years to come.

Many activists and groups denounced the court decision.

“The Supreme Court’s stay is a grave mistake that now allows the Trump administration to recklessly end the census count tomorrow night,” said Theo Oshiro, Deputy Director of Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group. “The administration’s plan to shorten the Census count is an attempt to shortchange our communities—the same communities hardest hit by the pandemic—of resources.”

Low-income, minority and immigrant areas often have lower Census response rates and are undercounted and underrepresented as a result.

Census results determine how much federal funding for public education, affordable housing and infrastructure that states and localities receive. They also determine how many representatives each state will have in Congress for the next 10 years.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he thought the Supreme Court decision was unfair and makes no sense to him during a morning press briefing today.

“I think with so much that’s happened with this pandemic, with so much need to get the truth out about the people of this city, of this country and count everyone, it made no sense to cut the count short,” he said.

He reminded New Yorkers that billions of dollars and the amount of representation in Congress is at stake.

According to Census Bureau data, 61.4 percent of New York City residents have filled out their census online or by mail or phone — compared to the statewide self response rate of 63.9 percent which lags behind the national rate of 66.8 percent.

In Queens, 62.3 percent of residents have filled out their Census.

“This is literally the last chance — if you haven’t filled out the census, do it now,” de Blasio said. “This could make a huge difference for the city.”

The Census takes about 10 minutes or less to fill out. Residents can fill it out online at my2020census.gov or by calling 844-330-2020.

email the author: [email protected]

4 Comments

Click for Comments 
Oscar

Sooooo… if you KNOW that 61% of residents filled it out, it’s a simple math equation to find out the number of people.

Reply
COCED

What was the original original date? There was plenty of time to answer the questionnaire, it takes about 5 minutes. All this talk about “in the middle of pandemic” – nonsense. Those who take it seriously , they participated. Those, who for some reason do not want to participate – it’s their loss.

Reply
Dan K

Hello ! I keep hearing the mayor saying that the response is 61 % and he seems happy saying we are beating other cities. If he thinks 61 % is good I dont know . to me 61 % compliance is failure. How come the city council members dont walk the streets door to door getting the people to fill out the census. Jimmy Van Bramer is always biking so he could just bike up and down every block and Costa can carry his wooden podium with him and then have the resident fill out the form using his podium.

Reply
old as dirt

whats the problem,,received census request months ago..took less than 5mins to fill out..if people havent done it by now they arent going to.. dont think cutting it by 2weeks will make any significant difference

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

CM Moya announces support for massive Metropolitan Park proposal near Citi Field

Council Member Francisco Moya announced his support for Metropolitan Park, a proposal put forward by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International that calls for the construction of a casino and entertainment complex on the parking lot just west of Citi Field.

In a lengthy statement released on Thursday afternoon, Moya said that when he was first approached about the project, his main consideration was ensuring that it would meet the needs of his constituents and provide a major boost to the local economy.

Long Island man charged in fatal Flushing hit-and-run that left 81-year-old man dead: NYPD

A Long Island truck driver was arrested on Tuesday and booked at the 109th Precinct in Flushing for a fatal hit-and-run collision that killed a Murray Hill senior who was riding an electric bike on Northern Boulevard three months ago.

Kyle Schreiber, 27, of Lincoln Boulevard in Hauppauge, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of 81-year-old Peter Seo on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 28.

MTA seizes 19 ‘ghost’ cars registered to toll violators at Queens Midtown Tunnel on Monday

Two days before the MTA Board approved the controversial congestion pricing plan for Manhattan on Wednesday, the agency cracked down on persistent toll violators at the Queens Midtown Tunnel in Long Island City.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels seized 19 vehicles registered to persistent scofflaws on Monday and issued 81 summonses and confiscated two fraudulent incense plates. The MTA noted that the scofflaws accounted for approximately $483,000 in combined unpaid tolls and fees. One of the top persistent toll violators from the targeted enforcement owed nearly $76,000 in tolls and fees.