As Census 2020 launched Thursday, city officials called on New Yorkers to avoid further spreading of coronavirus by being counted online or over the phone.
“In light of coronavirus, we are encouraging all New Yorkers to fill the census out right away — either online or by telephone or the paper form — because if they fill it out in the first four to five weeks, they will not receive a knock on the door from the federal Census Bureau,” NYC Census 2020 Director Julie Menin told The Post.
“It couldn’t be easier this year to fill the census out,” she also said, “and quite frankly, it couldn’t be more important.”
The census is now available in 13 languages. Under a new system, people can be counted for the first time by visiting my2020census.gov or by calling toll free at 1-844-330-2020.
The Census helps determine how much federal funding municipalities receive from a pool of hundreds of billions of dollars earmarked for important programs and services, including healthcare, schools and mass transit. During the 2010 Census, city residents only had a 61.9% initial self-response rate while the national rate was 76%.
In many Big Apple neighborhoods, the self-response rates were even lower, ranging from roughly 35% to 50%.