How many people does it take to count New York’s City’s population?
Well at least 70 in Queens, according to a recent announcement from Queens Borough President Melinda Katz who today revealed the first 70 appointees to her Queens Complete Count Committee (CCC).
First announced by Katz in her 2018 State of the Borough address, the Queens CCC will bring together trusted community leaders and activists to learn about key 2020 Census issues, to report back to their diverse communities and to strategize how to ensure everyone in Queens is counted accurately.
“From federal funding to representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, so much is at stake with the 2020 Census. That’s why we need to be as prepared as possible to ensure every Queens resident is counted accurately, as an undercount would have negative impacts across our borough for at least the next decade,” said Katz.
The census, which is intended to count the entire population, is crucial for determining how federal funds are distributed and congressional districts drawn.
The upcoming 2020 Census will also bring new challenges, including 80 percent of respondents being asked to complete the Census form online.
“The challenges Queens faces are significant, but I am confident these civic-minded community partners will help ensure the borough is counted completely and fairly,” said Katz.
The announcement comes just days after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from including a question on citizenship status from the count. On Jan. 15, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled the federal government’s attempt to add the question is unlawful.
Early last year, the Commerce Department led by Secretary Wilbur Ross, announced that the upcoming census would include a citizenship question for the first time since 1950. Ross claimed that the decision to include the question in the count was to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.
“Including a citizenship question would undermine the goal of the Census: a complete count of all persons living in the United States. Here in Queens, a borough of nearly 2.4 million people of all races, ethnicities and faiths, an undercount would lead to fewer federal dollars for countless vital programs and initiatives,” added Katz.
According to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, New York City is home to 3.1 million immigrants and an estimated 560,000 undocumented residents. The city is also home to a large lawful permanent resident population, with about 1 million New Yorkers living in mixed-status households, where a household member is undocumented.
Making sure these individuals are counted is a top priority for Katz who noted that in the 2010 Census there were significant undercounts in parts of Western Queens, particularly those with high immigrant populations.
As a whole, the count reported the population of Queens increased by only 1,300 people over the prior decade, and the Borough President is committed to working with government agencies, nonprofits and civic groups to prevent these inaccuracies from recurring.
A second round of appointments to the Queens CCC will be conducted later this year.
The 70 individuals appointed to the Queens Complete Count Committee — many of whom are also members of the Borough President’s Queens General Assembly and Immigration Task Force — are:
- Sudha Acharya South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS)
- Rokeya Akhter New American Women’s Forum of New York
- Vincent Arcuri Community Board 5 – Queens
- Anisia Ayon Community Board 5 – Queens
- Naheed Samadi Bahram Women for Afghan Women
- Lorna Blancaflor YMCA New Americans Initiative
- Betty Braton Community Board 10 – Queens
- Carolyn Brown Community Board 8 – Queens
- Josefa Castro Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens
- Rachel Cerbone Anti-Racism Committee at Safe Horizon
- Chaio-chung Chen NYC Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst Hospital/Community Advisory Board
- Narbada Chhetri Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice
- Rosemary Ciulla-Frisone Community Board 10 – Queens
- Veronica Coronel Latino Film Market
- Pastor Phillip Craig Greater Springfield Community Church
- Angie Damlakhi Allewaa Alarabi Newspaper
- Herold Dasque Haitian Americans United for Progress, Inc. (HAUP)
- Bess DeBetham Community Board 13 – Queens
- Karen Durgana Central Library Advisory Board
- Renetta English Community Board 3 – Queens
- Crystal Feng APA Voice
- Kevin Forrestal Community Board 8 – Queens
- Fred Gitner New Americans Program, Queens Library
- Lucia Gomez New York Immigration Coalition Action Fund Board
- Frank Gulluscio Community Board 6 – Queens
- Adjoa Gzifa Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated
- Michael Hannibal Community Board 8 – Queens
- Lourdes Villanueva Hartrick Bellerose Commonwealth Civic Association
- Larinda Hooks East Elmhurst Corona Civic Association
- Shaikh Sirajul Islam Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts (BIPA)
- Mehreen Kagzi Safe Horizon
- Bob Kaplan Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC)
- Lalit Khanna Hindu Temple of North America
- Jennie Kim Legal Hand Jamaica
- Nancy Konipol Community Board 1 – Queens
- Eva Kornacka Polonians Organized to Minister to Our Community, Inc.
- Julieta Larsen Queens Community House (QCH)
- Mark Laster Community Board 6 – Queens
- Sharon Levy YMCA of Greater New York
- Shiuho Lin Taiwanese American Association of New York
- Richie Lipkowitz Indian Diaspora Council
- Marcus Longmuir Jackson Heights Immigrant Solidarity Network
- Angie Markham Italian Federation of Queens (FIAO)
- Rosalinda Martinez Mensaje de Silo (Silo’s Message)
- Antonio Meloni Community Board 1 – Queens
- Jorge Mendizabal Guatemalan Community in Brooklyn and Queens
- Sofiya Minsariya National Institute for Reproductive Health
- Melva M. Miller Association for a Better New York (ABNY)
- Abdus-Salaam Musa Southeast Queens Muslim Collective, Inc.
- Nuala O’Doherty Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG)
- Theo Oshiro Make the Road New York
- Taina M. Pierce Friends of Queens Library – Lefrak City Chapter
- Rasel Rahman Shetu, Inc.
- Ashook Ramsaran Indian Diaspora Council International
- Sherry Reisner Utopia Estates Civic Association
- Quinn Rhi MinKwon Center for Community Action
- Louise Roach New Beginnings Church of Astoria
- Gloria Rochester Jamaica NAACP
- Tammy Ross New Visions Democratic Club
- Rabbi Hayim Schwartz Rabbincal Seminary of America
- Lynette Shelborne-Barfield Queens Chapter Rockaway YMCA
- Patricia Simon United Neighborhood Settlement
- Evgenia Soldatos Hellenic Lawyers Association
- Roslin Spigner Queens Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta
- Penny Stern Community Board 8 – Queens
- Perminder Thiara School District 26 PTA
- Yanhai Wan Forest Hills Asian Association
- Jeffrey Wice Rockefeller Institute of Government (SUNY)
- Anna Xing Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC)
- Minwen Yang Community Board 4 – Queens
