The 2010 Census enumerated New York City’s population at 8,175,133.  The Census Bureau, in cooperation with the Department of City Planning, had estimated the city’s population to be around 8.4 million as of July 2010. We believe there has been a significant undercount of our city’s population. This was partly due to the 2010 census finding an increase of 82,000 vacant units in New York City, or a 46 percent rise since 2000. A disproportionate share of this increase was found in two local census offices covering southern Brooklyn and northwest Queens, two vibrant sections of the city. The huge concentration of vacant units in these two areas cannot be explained by new construction or foreclosures; nor is it consistent with other survey and administrative data. The City of New York challenged these census findings under the Census Bureau’s Count Question Resolution (CQR) Program. Provided below are: the initial submission under this program; evidence underscoring the City’s contention that these areas could not have experienced the type of concentrated vacancy reported; and the final determination in the CQR process from the Census Bureau.

While any correction to the city’s population would not have affected Congressional reapportionment, it does affect the annual estimates of the City’s population for years subsequent to the Census. These estimates affect the allocation of certain types of Federal aid to the State, including private activity “bond cap” and low income housing tax credits, as well as activities aimed at the identification of needs and the provision of services.

• April 1, 2012: The Outcome of the Count Question Resolution Process
  The Census Bureau has determined that New York City’s Count Question Resolution (CQR) challenge of August 2011 will not result in a change in the City’s 2010 population. The Census Bureau's examination of the addresses City Planning submitted did not reveal errors admissible under CQR. Admissible errors are only those concerning geographic boundaries and the processing of data already collected in the census enumeration; the Census Bureau does not change numbers produced from an enumeration, unless the error falls into those categories. The CQR process does not consider other types of errors in the 2010 Census that may have affected the city’s population count.
  
  We identified clear anomalies in the census count in portions of Brooklyn and Queens that revealed significant shortcomings in the Census Bureau’s procedures, resulting in neighborhoods of high growth being undercounted.
  
  The Census Bureau showed a real willingness to work with the City and carefully examined our appeal, but it is unfortunate no mechanism exists to rectify the errors we identified.  City Planning’s demographers and technical specialists will continue to engage with their counterparts at the Census Bureau to examine what occurred and to improve census procedures for the future to ensure that New York is more accurately counted in the 2020 Census.
  
  
  • CQR - Response to New York
  • CQR - Response to New York Table
  
  
• August 10, 2011: Mayor Bloomberg Submits City's Formal Challenge to 2010 Census Results
  
  
• New York City's Census Challenge: Initial Submission under the Count Question Resolution Program that Documents the Misclassification of Housing Units as Vacant in Portions of Brooklyn and Queens
  
  
  • Sources for New York City's Count Question Resolution Submission
    
    
• Briefing Booklet for NYC's Census Challenge
  
  
• March 27, 2011 - Statement of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on 2010 Census Undercount
  
  
• March 27, 2011 - Mayor Bloomberg and Elected Officials From Across New York City Discuss 2010 Census Undercount
  
  
• March 24, 2011 - Statements of Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz and Queens Borough President Marshall on 2010 Census Count

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