The first day that you can fill out the Census is on March 12. It is very important that every single person completes the Census and is counted, and it does not matter your age or living situation.
From March 12 until mid-May, the census will be primarily conducted online and via phone, and all New Yorkers are very strongly encouraged to participate online or by phone in order to avoid a knock on their doors in the summer. The census is for everyone, no matter one’s immigration or citizenship status, or housing situation, and all New Yorkers – no matter what language they speak or where or how they live – must be counted.
There are five main important reasons that the Census should be filled in. According to the Kathleen Daniel, NYC Census 2020 Field Director, a major reason is that the Census is about money and power in the country and in neighborhoods all around Brooklyn and New York City.
“It determines the number of representatives we get in Congress, and that is for every state across the country, as well as the number of delegates we get for the Electoral College,” Daniel said. “The Census impacts the resources coming back to us from Washington every year to the tune of $675 billion. That is doled out based on population.”
A second major reason to complete the Census is that it is for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, what age you are, or what ethnicity you are – the only requirement is that you live in New York City.
“We are all equal and all working on the same goal, and that is to prove that we count for the Census. This is the largest mobilization of people in the country during peace time,” Daniel noted.
Another very important thing that people need to know is that the Census and the information you fill in are in private. Your information is protected by Title 13.
“The Census cannot and will not use our personal information that we provide to them for the Census against us,” Daniel said. “They can’t share it with anyone – not even law enforcement, not even ICE. Our information is safe and protected.”
Daniel emphasized that, despite fearmongering, there will be no citizenship question on the Census. “Even if there was, no one would know because our information is protect and is private and will not be released for 72 years.”
If you are doubled up and living in an apartment with another family or two other families, or are staying with people who are not on the lease, it’s okay to include everybody living there, since the landlord will never know.
A third major point about the Census is that on March 12 people will be able to fill it out for the first time online and by phone. In the past, people could only fill it out with the paper copy, which will again be available this year.
People can go online at my2020census.gov and do the Census or they can call toll free 844-330-2020 to answer the questions in English. On the website all the numbers will be posted so people can call and speak to a Census enumerator for the Federal Census Bureau in one of 13 languages, including English.
The U.S. Census Bureau has also published “explainer” guides in a total of 59 languages.
New Yorkers will also have the option of getting the form on paper and filling it out in the traditional way, but there is a push to have it recorded via phone or internet this time.
The Census is 10 simple questions and it will take people about 10 minutes to complete. It asks for your name, your address, your ethnicity, your national origin, what kind of home you live in (house, apartment, condo etc.), how many people live in your household and how those people are related to you.
The Census is easy, safe and important. The data from the Census affects the quality of lives here in New York City for the next 10 years.
It makes a difference in various ways in individual neighborhoods around Brooklyn. “It impacts Title One funding for schools, afterschool programs, breakfast and lunch programs for students, Medicare, Head Start programs, roads, tunnels and bridges,” Daniel explained.
There is also an impact on a larger scale because it informs a tremendous amount of financial and budgetary decisions that are made in the country.
“That is more to the tune of $1.3 trillion because population data informs where businesses open up, where developers build, where supermarkets go, how many people we need in the police force and at firehouses,” Daniel said. “Basic quality of life needs are met based on the data that we provide once every 10 years.”
People need to fill out the Census so that the neighborhoods and areas that they live in can have the resources needed including schools, hospitals, healthcare programs, transportation and infrastructure.
In 2010, 61.9 percent of all New Yorkers responded to the Census. The most accurate data that the Federal Census Bureau can get is when people self-respond.
“This is the reality, because who knows better who living in your house than you do,” Daniel said. “When New Yorkers do the Census themselves, which is how it is designed to be done, we get more accurate information.”
According to the field director, the national average for Census responses was 76 percent, and New York City was way under that number. In South Brooklyn, 62 percent of Red Hook completed the Census, along with 65 percent of Carroll Gardens, and 57 percent of Gowanus. 56 percent of Sunset Park responded. Overall, 55 percent of Brooklyn residents completed the Census.
There is a push to have a greater percentage fill it in this year, since it has many practical benefits. Daniel said there is an opportunity to stand up and be counted.
There is significance to filling in all the questions on the Census, and the ethnicity questions is one of them. An example is that 10 years ago in Washington Heights, where here is a large Dominican American community with many undocumented, they organized and informed people there about the Census.
They applied for and got jobs with the Federal Census Bureau. 76 percent of Washington Heights responded to the Census (much higher than the citywide figure), and as a result of that several public schools were built there with ESL and Spanish-language programs.
“In a matter of days we need to make sure that every New Yorker is counted regardless of immigration status or where they live in any of the five boroughs,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I encourage everybody to make their voices be heard sooner rather than later by filling out the census online or by phone. Our resources for a better future are at stake and we don’t want to wait another 10 years for the next census.”
