Brooklyn pols demand state release $4 million for Census 2020 outreach

With just over five months to go before the start of the 2020 Census, leaders across Brooklyn are calling for the state to deliver $4 million to fund the borough’s counting efforts.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who represents the historically undercounted neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Brownsville and Sunset Park, penned a letter calling for the allocation in a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo dated Sept. 24. Thirty-three other elected officials representing Brooklyn in state, city and federal government signed onto the letter. Approximately 80 percent of Brooklynites live in hard-to-count neighborhoods, according to Census Hard To Count Map 2020.

“This amount is justified by the considerable challenge of achieving a full count here and is proportional to distribution of funds recommended by the Fiscal Policy Institute,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was shared with the Brooklyn Eagle. “An undercount in Brooklyn would be an unmitigated disaster not only for the people we represent, but the entire state. Billions of dollars in federal aid programs could be lost.”

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