New York stands to lose billions in federal funding and as many as two of its 12 congressional seats if the city’s 8.6 million residents are undercounted when the Census begins March 12.
The city will spend millions and even enlist the help of celebrities to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“If we are under-counted, they will take representation away from you,” de Blasio told hundreds of advocates and volunteers at a kickoff rally in Manhattan. “If we are under-counted, they will not take millions of dollars from your community — they will take billions away from you, your family, your neighborhood, your city."
The city’s plan relies on outreach from more than 150 local organizations across the five boroughs, as well as labor unions, libraries, houses of worship and private institutions. Officials plan to use data to target historically undercounted neighborhoods.
The 2010 Census response rate in the city is less than the national average — 62% compared to $76% — and some neighborhoods saw rates as low as 35%. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the New York area’s response rate could drop as low as 58% in 2020.
The city’s plan to boost participation includes a majority $23 million in funding for community-based organizations to organize and conduct outreach, as well as $8 million in advertising, officials said.
The city will put up $3 million of that money to advertise in community and ethnic media — the largest such investment for any campaign — and plans to use at least 16 different languages. New Yorkers will see these ads on TV, online, in print, on buses, subways and social media, and they may feature celebrities, athletes, media personalities and other “influencers.”
The Census will be conducted online for the first time this year — risking undercounting in low-income areas without broadband. Nearly 30% of households across the five boroughs lack internet access, according to the comptroller’s office, so the city plans to increase access to the web for those areas.
Some 7,500 residents will be recruited to volunteer, and the city will train 400 outreach workers on how to use “get out the Census” technology.
Volunteers may be part of teach-ins, phone banking, “text banking” and on-the-ground canvassing.
“In Washington, the Trump administration thought it had a plan to weaponize the census — and now we have a plan to fight back and get every single New Yorker counted,” the city’s Census director, Julie Menin, said.
New York state also plans to spend $60 million on Census outreach.
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