Last Call for the Census: Public Schedule of Census Outreach Events

NEW YORK, N.Y., October 14 – NYC Census 2020’s multi-borough “Countdown to our Future” campaign is currently engaging in its last day of census outreach, after the Supreme Court allowed President Trump to cut the 2020 Census count by two weeks, a move designed to depress responses among Black, Brown, and immigrant New Yorkers and rob New York City of billions for critical programs, as well as congressional representation and seats in the Electoral College for the next 10 years. Outreach includes in-person canvassing, phone banking, and a final “Text Out the Count” campaign with a special focus on neighborhoods with self-response rates below the city average.

Media must RSVP to Sona Rai at srai@census.nyc.gov to attend and cover select public events. Interviews are also available upon request.

Public Schedule

Thursday, October 15:

11:30 AM: In-person Canvassing

Who: NYC Census 2020 Director Julie Menin
Where: Corona Plaza: 104th Street & Roosevelt Avenue, Corona, Queens
Contact: Sona Rai, srai@census.nyc.gov, (585) 530 - 7484

4:00 PM: In-Person Canvassing

Who: The Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ), NYC Census 2020
Where: Newkirk Avenue Station (2 and 5 trains): Newkirk Avenue & Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
Contact: Sona Rai, srai@census.nyc.gov, (585) 530 - 7484

Currently (as of October 14), New York City has a self-response rate of 61.5 percent. NYC Census 2020 and its partners’ efforts have resulted in important progress for historically undercounted communities across the city, including:

A near matching of the 2010 initial return rate of 61.9%, despite COVID-19 outreach barriers
A closing self-response rate gap when compared to the nation (from approximately 14 percentage points in 2010 to approximately 5 percentage points in 2020)
Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island all ahead of their 2010 initial return rates
Significant improvements in self-response rates in Black communities across the city
NYC beat the U.S. Census Bureau’s pre-COVID estimate of 58% self-response by 3.4 percentage points
NYC’s self-response rate is ahead of Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit, and many others

On Thursday, October 15, New Yorkers can self-respond to the 2020 Census at my2020census.gov or by calling 844-330-2020. There are no questions about citizenship or immigration on the census, and all answers are completely confidential and cannot be shared with anyone -- not immigration or tax authorities, and not with any law enforcement authorities or landlords.

About NYC Census 2020
NYC Census 2020 is a first-of-its-kind organizing initiative established by Mayor de Blasio in January 2019 to ensure a complete and accurate count of all New Yorkers in the 2020 Census. The $40 million program is built on four pillars: (1) a $19 million community-based awards program, The New York City Complete Count Fund, empowering 157 community-based organizations to engage historically undercounted communities around the 2020 Census; (2) an in-house "Get Out the Count" field campaign supported by the smart use of cutting-edge data and organizing technology, and a volunteer organizing program to promote a complete count in each of the city's 245 neighborhoods; (3) an innovative, multilingual, tailored messaging and marketing campaign, including a $3 million commitment to investing in community and ethnic media to reach every New York City community; as well as (4) an in-depth Agency and Partnerships engagement plan that seeks to leverage the power of the City's 350,000-strong workforce and the city's major institutions, including libraries, hospitals, faith-based communities, cultural institutions, higher educational institutions, and more, to communicate with New Yorkers about the critical importance of census participation. Through close partnerships with trusted leaders and organizations across the five boroughs, this unprecedented campaign represents the largest municipal investment in census organizing nationwide and will build an enduring structure that empowers New Yorkers to remain civically engaged.