Decennial Newsletter Issue1 Final

News from the New York Regional Census Center

Spring/Summer 2009 Vol. 1, No. 1

the decennial COUNTDOWN TO CENSUS 2010: Corzine, Bloomberg lead efforts to ‘Get Out the Count’ in NJ and NYC New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are both leading efforts to ensure a complete and accurate count in 2010. More than $300 billion is distributed annually to states and communities based on population data. On April 1, 2009, Corzine kicked off the Garden State’s 2010 Census promotional campaign during a press conference held at the Statehouse in Trenton, NJ. The New Jersey State Data Center created the slogan “NJ’s Counting on You” to help raise awareness about the importance of the 2010 Census. L.-R. David Socolow, Commissioner, NJ Department of Labor and Workforce; Mayor Randy Brown of Evesham, NJ; Lester A. Farthing, New York Regional Director, U.S. Census Bureau (at podium); Mayor Timothy McDonough of Hope, NJ; and Governor Jon Corzine.

The event marked the one-year countdown to Census Day, April 1, 2010. “Municipal leaders understand the importance of the census,” said Corzine. “We encourage them to engage civic, community and faith-based organizations to reach out to their constituencies to provide grass-roots support for a complete count in New Jersey.” On the other side of the Hudson River, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the establishment of the NYC 2010 Census Office during a well-attended 2010 Census Kick-Off at the Queens Borough Library held on April 7, 2009. Headed by the newly-appointed Stacey Cumberbatch, the City Census Office will work closely with the New York Regional Census Center to coordinate efforts among city agencies, community organizations, cultural institutions, faith-based organizations, labor unions, immigrant advocacy groups and others.

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L.-R. Stacey Cumberbatch, City Census Coordinator; Guillermo Linares, Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Ricardo Morales, Chairman, NYC Housing Authority; Lester Farthing, NY Regional Director, U.S. Census Bureau; and Raul Vicente, Jr., Senior Media Specialist, New York Regional Census Center.

In light of the current economy, Bloomberg also noted the importance of filling out the questionnaire to ensure that funding levels are maximized. “We are kicking off a new effort to get the message out that there is nothing to fear from filling out a census questionnaire, and that we need every New York City resident counted,” Bloomberg said.

Page 2 . . . Message from the Regional Director Page 3 . . . Photo Gallery Page 6 . . . Kids Corner, Address Canvassing, Mt. Zion Hosts Census Forum Page 7 . . . Census Timeline, Partnership Goes Live Page 8 . . . Newark Kick-Off, Upcoming Events

Message from the Regional Director The Census Bureau’s national theme, “It’s In Our Hands,” is a call to every person living in the United States to play a key role in this once-in-alifetime opportunity to be counted in the upcoming 2010 Census. I am pleased to report that the New York Regional Census Center is shaping up on schedule.

New York Regional Census Center 330 West 34th Street, 13th Floor New York, NY 10001 212.356.3100 Decennial 2010 is published by the NYRCC Media Office. Lester A. Farthing Regional Director

On board, we have a diverse, dedicated and talented team of Managers, Partnership and Data Services Specialists (PDS), Geographers, Recruiters, IT and Administrative staff working in sync to complete our early census operations. Thanks to the PDS staff, we are gaining new partners everyday and inviting past partners to work with us again. Inside this newsletter, you will see examples of our tremendous community outreach work being conducted throughout the region.

Ligia Jaquez Deputy Regional Director

From our one-year-out kick-offs and local public forums to our highly visible presence at community-based events, we are doing all we can to ensure a complete and accurate count in 2010.

Partnership Coordinators Geraldine Clark Rafael Dominguez Reva Sears

As we forge ahead, let us stay on point with our key messages — The 2010 Census: It’s Easy, It’s Safe and It’s Important.

Raul Vicente, Jr. Senior Media Specialist/Publisher Yolanda Finley Media Specialist/Editor Consuelo Jackson Graphic Specialist/Designer

If you would like to contribute to the Decennial 2010 newsletter, please contact the editor at [email protected].

Lester A. Farthing New York Regional Director

about the new york region The New York Region includes all five boroughs in New York City — Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, — Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties in New York and Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties in New Jersey.

If you would like to become a 2010 Census Partner or to receive general information on the 2010 Census, please contact our office at 212.356.3100 or check out www.2010census.gov.

New York

New Jersey

2010 CENSUS

IT’S IN OUR HANDS Page 2

PHOTO GALLERY The Partnership and Data Services Team is on the move — from Middlesex County, NJ to Suffolk County, NY and everywhere in between!

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Connection Committee representatives at their North Atlantic Regional Conference with NYRCC Staff.

At the podium during the Suffolk County Kick-Off, Deputy Director Ligia Jaquez is shown with (L.-R.) Akie Naito, President, Asian Pacific American Association of Long Island; County Executive Steve Levy; Nayyar Iman, President, Islamic Association of Long Island; Patricia Valle, Assistant Regional Census Manager; Partnership Coordinator Rafael Dominguez; and PDS Staff.

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, Superintendent John Rodecker and students from Dr. Herbert D. Richardson 21st Century School.

Standing in the center of the Jamaican Flag is Nickel Ashmeade, one of Jamaica’s World Junior Champions, with Team Jamaica Bickle at the Penn Relay Carnival held in Philadelphia, PA. On the far left is Jamaican native Irwine Clare, Team Leader, New York Region, U.S. Census Bureau. Brooklyn Asian Complete Count Committee Kick-Off led by Paul Mak, Executive Director, Brooklyn Chinese-American Association. Page 3

PHOTO GALLERY

The Korean Complete Count Committee of Queens gets pumped up for Census 2010.

Senior Partnership Specialist Jose Acosta with an onlooker at the Colombian Day Parade in Elizabeth, NJ.

Partnership Administrative Specialist (third from left) Chanée Williams and Partnership Coordinator Geraldine Clark (kneeling) with attendees of the BET Foundation’s Women’s Health Symposium at Essex County College in Newark, NJ.

Side Kick the Clown at the Haitian Flag Day Parade in Elizabeth, NJ.

Senior Partnership Specialist Carmen Perez prepares to deliver the Census 2010 message on the popular Florence Rice NY cable program which airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, MNN. Rice, 90, is a longtime community activist and founder of the Harlem Consumer Education Council.

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PHOTO GALLERY

Partnership Specialist Jakyoung Kim demonstrates how to trace your hand during the Summer Literacy Festival hosted by the YWCA of Queens.

Students from Bank Street Head Start in Manhattan celebrate May Day wearing their Census 2010 stickers.

L.-R. Senior Partnership Specialist Jose Aguiling, Partnership Coordinator Reva Sears and Naomi McElynn, President, Westfield Area Chamber of Commerce, at the Westfield, NJ Economic Summit. Aguiling is holding a proclamation declaring April 17, 2009 as Census Day in Westfield, NJ.

Partnership Specialists Lauren Zyriek and Jonathan Gromer with an “Earth Day” participant at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.

L.-R. Media Specialist Veronica Lavarro, George Graham, Vice President, Sussex County League of Municipalities, and Partnership Coordinator Geraldine Clark.

A group of senior citizens in Clark, NJ have their census count in the bag. Page 5

Address canvassing nearly complete The Census Bureau is ahead of schedule toward the completion of its massive operation to verify and update more than 145 million addresses in preparation for the 2010 Census. Originally planned to run until the end of July 2009, the decennial’s first major undertaking will be wrapping up in June. Nationwide, more than 140,000 census workers participated in the address canvassing operation, a critically important first step in assuring that every housing unit receives a census questionnaire in March 2010.

KidsCorner Census in Schools website goes live! Printed materials will be delivered to K-8 principals beginning in August 2009

In the New York Region, a committed group of employees were hired to canvass their communities.

On the church steps, Reverend Gilford Monrose is shown with his son welcoming participants to the forum. Address canvassers can be identified “Our main objective is to identify every living by their official Census Bureau identification badges. They are also equipped quarters and possible living quarters in order with hand-held computers to update to ensure that a form gets to every houseaddresses.

Mt. Zion Church of God 7th Day hold,” says William M. Harfmann, a 20-year hosts 2010 Census veteran forum of the Census Bureau, who serves as Area Manager for Queens, Long Island, Westchester and Rockland counties.

The U.S. Census Bureau is proud to present 2010 Census: It’s about us, a free interactive education program packed with on and off-line lessons, worksheets, and classroom resources. The purpose of the program is to provide students K-12 with information about the importance of the 2010 Census with the hope that they will share this information with the adults in their household. With units leveled for students in grades K-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12, the 2010 Census program will provide teachers with lessons that meet core standards and feature fun, skill-building activities in map literacy, graphing, reading, writing and civic responsibility. Every school in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Island areas can have online access to materials, and everyone will receive K-8 English and Spanish take home materials. Participants will be asked to pick any week between February and April 2010 and designate it to teaching about the census. Check out www.census.gov/schools for interactive games, quizzes, coloring pages, state facts and more!

Mt. Zion hosts census forum The Mt. Zion Church of God 7th Day in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn recently hosted a 2010 Census public forum. Organized by the pastor, Reverend Gilford T. Monrose, Deanna Bitetti, District Representative for ConOn the church steps, Rev. Monrose is shown gresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, (Dwith his son and several forum participants. NY 11th), and Maria Matos, Partnership Specialist, NY Regional Census Center, the forum was designed to raise awareness about the importance of filling out the questionnaire and mailing it back in April 2010. Monrose emphasized that the community should respond to get its fair share of funding and representation. He stressed the confidentiality of the respondent’s answers, explaining Title 13, the law which protects this information. He was joined at the forum by speakers Lester A. Farthing, New York Regional Director, U.S. Census Bureau, District Representative Bitetti, residents and church members. Working in Partnership with the Bureau, Mt. Zion Church will serve intermittently as a testing site for census jobs, and will also serve as a Be Counted Site and Questionnaire Assistance Center. Page 6

CCC’s key to Census 2010 As the countdown continues toward a nationwide count of every person in America, the Census Bureau views Complete Count Committees as important vehicles for planning and implementing local, targeted efforts to include everyone in the community in the 2010 Census. A Complete Count Committee, or CCC, is a team of volunteer members appointed by the highestelected official or assembled by community leaders to increase awareness about the census and to motivate residents to respond. CCCs come in different types and sizes, depending on how they are organized and where they are located. CCCs can include a crosssection of community representatives from government agencies, education, business, faith-based organizations, community groups and the media. Community leaders also are the best suited to mobilize local resources in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. It’s up to you! You know the best way to reach your community. If you are interested in forming a CCC, please call 212.356.3100.

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APR ‘09 - JUN ‘09

Partnership goes live — in Spanish The 2010 Partnership and Data Services Team has carried the 2010 Census message over the airwaves and into millions of homes in the New York Region’s Latino communities. Senior Partnership Specialist Jose Acosta has made his rounds, spending time in the studio with talk show host Victor Condo Esquivel of Long Islandbased Ecuamerica Internet Radio and TV host Malin Falu on Dialogo, which is aired on the Brooklyn-based HITN-TV. HITN reaches 30 million Hispanic households annually.

Jose Acosta and Victor Condo Esquivel

“There is great pride in bringing vital census information to my community,” says Acosta who was born in Ecuador and came to the United States 47 years ago. This is Acosta’s second decennial, having served on the Partnership and Data Services team in 2000. In April, Ligia Jaquez, Deputy Director Ligia Jaquez and Telemundo’s Luis Medina. Deputy Regional Director, also appeared on public affairs and news programs for both the number one and number two Spanish language television networks, UniVision and Telemundo. “The response from the media has been fantastic,” says Jaquez. “We are pleased that the media has taken our message to their audiences, allowing our team to deliver quality information that encourages participation in the 2010 Census.”

C E N S U S

T I M E L I N E

Address canvassing conducted Census workers canvass all census blocks, updating address/map information

MAR ‘10 United States Postal Service delivers Census questionnaires to households

APR ‘10 - JUN ‘10 Non-Response Follow Up Census workers visit households that do not mail back a census questionnaire

APR ‘10 Census Day recognized on April 1, 2010!

DEC ‘10 U.S. population totals are due to the President Show state populations and number of U.S. House of Representatives seats apportioned to each state.

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City of Newark prepares to “Stand Up and Be Counted” in the 2010 Census

Newark Mayor Cory Booker on the steps of City Hall. He is flanked by (L. to R.) Carlos Valentin, Executive Director, Aspira, Senior Media Specialist Raul Vicente, Jr., NYRCC, and Earl Best, Founder and CEO of Street Warriors, Inc.

During a 2010 Census Complete Count Committee community event on the steps of Newark City Hall this past May, Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker’s message was as clear as the weather: The clock has begun. “We need to get involved now,” said Booker. “We need to take on this challenge and get every resident counted in the 2010 Census.” Mayor Booker was joined by members of the Newark Municipal Council, city, county and state dignitaries, Newark clergy, community leaders, residents and representatives of the New York Regional Census Center. “The City of Newark is proud to be a key member of the Complete Count Committee,” said North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos. Emphasizing that personal information received from the census questionnaire – which will be the shortest in the Census Bureau’s history – is kept confidential by law, the Mayor urged residents to stand up for more opportunities for the community. “Newark, like many municipalities throughout the state, is facing challenging economic times. The stimulus money and federal aid our city receives to support our schools, infrastructures and overall city program is based on our population count,” said Booker. “I urge all of Newark’s residents to stand up and be counted.” “We want residents to know that the 2010 Census is easy, safe, and important,” added Raul Vicente, Jr., Senior Media Specialist, New York Regional Census Center.

UPCOMING EVENTS NEW YORK June 13 Philippine Independence Day Celebration New York, NY

NEW JERSEY June 6 African American Heritage Parade Montclair, NJ

June 14 Puerto Rican Day Parade New York, NY

June 8-14 Newark Essex Pride Week Newark, NJ

Multicultural Street Fair Suffern, NY

June 13-14 Portugal Day Festival Newark, NJ

June 20 Caribbean Heritage Month New York, NY June 27 Int’l Immigrants Parade New York, NY June 28 Pride Heritage Parade New York, NY July 26 Dominican Parade Bronx, NY Colombia Independence Day Festival Queens, NY August 2 Ecuadorian Parade Queens, NY

June 15 McDonald’s Gospel Festival Newark, NJ June 27 Egyptian Festival Jersey City, NJ June 28 Philippine Parade Jersey City, NJ July 12 Latino Festival Jersey City, NJ July 22 Chalk Fest Jersey City, NJ

If you would like to invite us to participate in your event, please call 212.356.3100.

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U  Helping You Make Informed Decisions 

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