Incomplete Census Data from Elite Neighborhoods, Can Cost NYC Billions in Federal $$$

By Denis Cyr

Many of the wealthiest areas of NYC are not completing their census forms, which could result in billions of Federal aid money not heading the cities way.

The NY Post reported: Manhattan is home to fourteen of 20 New York neighborhoods that have the biggest gaps between the rate at which they have completed the 2020 Census compared to the 2010 count, according to stats compiled Friday. They estimate NYC can be losing out of $3 billion

The numbers this year however are an improvement as apparently the elite of Manhattan are infamous for not doing their census reports.  City Hall census czar Julie Menin’s effort, which has managed to get the Big Apple’s response rate within 7 points of the national average of roughly 66 percent — slashing the 14 point-gap from 2010 by more than half, The post reported.

The Census affects up to $900 billion in grants, direct payments, loans, and loan guarantees that the federal government distributes annually to states and individuals. That is because the federal government relies on census data in whole or in part to calculate how to distribute those funds

The US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Transportation cannot even define rural or urbanized areas without population thresholds derived from the decennial census.NYC maybe losing out of precious grants which can improve our crumbling MTA.

Tax Policy Center explained: Medicaid may be the program most affected by potential census undercounts. The federal government reimburses states for their Medicaid costs based on state per capita personal income relative to US per capita personal income. The higher a state’s per capita income, the lower its federal medical assistance percentage, though the feds always contribute at least 50 percent of Medicaid costs. If you undercount a state’s population, you overstate how much income each resident has therefore the state can look economically better off than it is.

“For every New Yorker that doesn’t fill it out, all that means is that other states receive our funding and our Congressional seats,” said Menin, who is hitting the alarm bell over the Manhattan’s current no-show status. “This is not a time to be invisible, this is a time to stand up and be counted.”

43% of households in Midtown have filled out the Census so far, the UES 52%, while at the UWS 66%, compared to 2010, 76%

The Lincoln Square lag alone could cost the Big Apple $59 million in federal funds.