By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer wants New York City's census deadline extended by 30 days because of the city's abysmal response rate, which is 14 percentage points below the national average of 66 percent.
Brewer and Brooklyn Councilman Al Vann sent a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau requesting the extension from April 15 to mid-May, citing the difficulties of getting a timely response in a large and densely populated city that is home to many Spanish speakers.
"I want to point out that we (New York City) are different," Brewer said in an interview about why the Census Bureau should grant the extension.
Brewer also noted that several buildings in her district experienced long delays in receiving the census forms. She received calls from numerous apartments complexes, including the exclusive Ansonia and Imperial Court, that did not receive the mailed questionnaire.
Residents at the Ansonia finally received their forms last week, according to a staff member at the apartment complex.
Brewer said the data from the census is crucial in determining how $400 billion in federal funding is doled out. Each person who goes uncounted can cost a community thousands of dollars in lost funding.
"Participation in the Census is the city's lifeline to essential resources for our neighborhoods and communities," Brewer said.
Hell's Kitchen and the Upper West Side, Brewer's territory, are averaging about a 60 percent response rate, which is sixpoints behind the national average for census form return, but ahead of the city's 52 percent average.
When forms are not returned by the due date, households receive a personal visit from census workers to collect the data. Brewer was concerned that workers would be prevented from entering buildings by doormen and that New Yorkers would give a frosty reception to strangers knocking on their doors.
"People don't open their door and I don't blame them," she said.
Because the deadline for the census return is set for the whole nation and planned well in advance, Brewer conceded that convincing the U.S Census Bureau to grant the extension for New York City would be a difficult task.
