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NYC Census 2020 Announces Winner of Last Week's Census Subway Series: Jamaica, Queens vs. Canarsie, Brooklyn

New York — On Tuesday, September 2, NYC Census 2020 announced the winner of the first "NYC Census Subway Series", which pitted Jamaica, Queens against Canarsie, Brooklyn, to see which neighborhood could raise their 2020 Census self-response rate the highest between August 24th and August 30th, following President Trump's move to cut the census short by one month. NYC Census Director Julie Menin and Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel, NYC Law Department released the following statement:

"In the battle of the royal boroughs, "the Queen" edged out "the King". We're excited to congratulate Jamaica, Queens on their victory in the first-ever NYC Census Subway Series. Jamaica started at 50.7% in self-response, and raised its rate up to 51.6% for a total increase of 0.95 percentage points -- that means hundreds of Jamaica residents have been newly counted. Canarsie also deserves a round of applause for raising its response rate from 48.5% to 49.2%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points. And even though they were bested this time, their efforts were not for nothing -- every resident counted during the contest means more federal funding in the neighborhood for the services we rely on. Now, let's keep that neighborhood pride going in this final stretch of the 2020 Census and get all our neighbors counted to support our communities for years to come."

The Census Subway Series is a five-week challenge in which two neighborhoods from different boroughs will compete against each other to see which neighborhood posts the largest gains in its self-response rate over the week. The first two neighborhoods to compete were Jamaica, Queens (current self-response rate: 51.8%), and Canarsie, Brooklyn (current self-response rate: 49.4%). With Jamaica, Queens crowned the winner of the first NYC Census Subway Series, Midwood, Brooklyn and the Upper East Side, Manhattan are up next to compete for bragging rights from Monday, August 31 to Sunday, September 6.

In addition to bragging rights, residents of the competing neighborhoods -- as well as any New Yorker who completes the census during the next five weeks -- may be eligible to win exciting prizes from Seamless, Lyft, and MoMA as part of the new NYC Counts census contest. Any New Yorker who completes the census between Monday, August 17 and Monday, September 21 can enter the contest to win one or more of the following prizes:

  • $1,000 gift card from Seamless (six total)
  • A $50 Lyft credit voucher and annual CitiBike membership (100 total)
  • An annual membership to The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 (a $200 value; 25 total)

All New Yorkers must take a photo of their census completion confirmation page and upload it to the City's website to enter. Complete rules can be found at nyc.gov/censuscontest.

As of September 1, New York City's self-response rate is 57.9%, and the nation's is 65%.

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.