By Olivia Scheck and Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
MIDTOWN WEST — Thursday was Census Day in the United States, so Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer took to the streets to encourage people to mail in their 2010 census forms if they haven’t already done so.
“Part of the census information is used for how much representation we have in the Congress of the United States,” Stringer told DNAinfo.
“And also the census data is used to determine how much federal dollars come back to places like Manhattan or surrounding cities.”
DNAinfo spoke with Manhattanites about whether they knew about the census, if they had filled their forms out, and if they planned to send the completed documents back.
“I’ve seen little cards and pamphlets around town, left in my building, left in my mailbox,” a passerby said on Thursday afternoon.
“I’m a social worker, so I like that the census helps get a count of peoples’ needs so that we can get more money,” another woman said. “What I don’t think is necessary about the census, though, is that I’ve gotten four mailings asking me to fill out the census.”
The U.S. Census Bureau mailed or delivered about 134 million 2010 Census forms to households around the country in March. As of April 1, 54 percent of those forms have been filled out and returned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Manhattan’s mail participation rate falls a bit short of the national average of 45 percent.
Every household that does not send back its form by the April 15 deadline will be visited by an enumerator beginning in May, at taxpayers' expense.