Census Worry: Whither Williamsburg?

Fort Totten has stood up to be counted. Williamsburg has gone missing.

In an effort to bolster flagging participation in the 2010 Census, City Hall on Wednesday provided a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of response rates as a part of a last-ditch campaign to get more New Yorkers to send in their forms.

Fewer than half (48 percent) of the Census forms mailed in New York City to date have been returned, well shy of the http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/
">national response rate of 62 percent. Manhattan, with 54 percent of its forms in, leads the way. Staten Island follows with 52 percent, the Bronx with 50 percent, Queens at 47 percent and Brooklyn at only 42 percent.

The city's Census response rate is usually lower than the national average, and that's costly: Several forms of federal aid and electoral representation in both Washington and Albany depend on population. The city estimates it loses $3,000 in aid for every person not counted.

Because of its large population of non-English speaking, low-income and immigrant residents, getting an accurate count of New York's population is always tricky. The Bloomberg administration has successfully challenged some of the survey-based population counts that the Census Bureau has made since 2000. Community organizations, schools, elected officials and neighborhood newspapers have all been enlisted in the city's effort to spread the word about Census 2010. Residents can call 311 if they need getting or filling out their form.

Despite those efforts, the response so far is lagging the city's performance 10 years ago, when it posted a 55 percent response rate (with wide disparity among neighborhood responses). But it's unclear how the 2010 response to date compares to this point in the 2000 count.

According to the numbers released Wednesday, Ft. Totten-Bay Terrace-Clearview in Queens had the highest rate, 62.9 percent, followed by Manhattans' Washington Heights North (62.5 percent). Williamsburg, Brooklyn posted a 31.3 percent rate, closely followed by Rugby, Brooklyn and Ozone Park in Queens at 33 percent each.

Below are the neighborhood response rates as released by City Hall:

Bronx: Allerton - Pelham Gardens        42.9
Bronx: Bedford Park - Fordham North        51.1
Bronx: Belmont        45.2
Bronx: Bronxdale        48.9
Bronx: Claremont-Bathgate        51.4
Bronx: Co-Op City        54.3
Bronx: Crotona Park East        52.0
Bronx: East Concourse-Concourse Village        51.7
Bronx: East Tremont        52.1
Bronx: Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester        40.0
Bronx: Fordham South        50.0
Bronx: Highbridge        54.0
Bronx: Hunts Point        52.6
Bronx: Kingsbridge Heights        55.6
Bronx: Longwood        53.3
Bronx: Melrose South-Mott Haven North        55.9
Bronx: Morrisania-Melrose        52.1
Bronx: Mott Haven-Port Morris        54.0
Bronx: Mount Hope        49.6
Bronx: North Riverdale-Fieldston-Riverdale        57.5
Bronx: Norwood        49.3
Bronx: Parkchester        54.3
Bronx: Pelham Bay-Country Club-City Island        47.2
Bronx: Pelham Parkway        50.2
Bronx: Schuylerville-Throgs Neck-Edgewater Park        45.5
Bronx: Soundview-Bruckner        47.6
Bronx: Soundview-Castle Hill-Clason Point-Harding Point        52.3
Bronx: Spuyten Duyvil-Kingsbridge        57.5
Bronx: University Heights-Morris Heights        52.8
Bronx: Van Cortlandt Village        55.5
Bronx: Van Nest-Morris Park-Westchester Square        44.0
Bronx: West Concourse        55.1
Bronx: West Farms-Bronx River        47.1
Bronx: Westchester-Unionport        44.2
Bronx: Williamsbridge-Olinville        37.3
Bronx: Woodlawn-Wakefield        36.5
Brooklyn: Bath Beach        44.4
Brooklyn: Bay Ridge        48.8
Brooklyn: Bedford        33.8
Brooklyn: Bensonhurst East        42.7
Brooklyn: Bensonhurst West        43.2
Brooklyn: Borough Park        35.5
Brooklyn: Brighton Beach        43.0
Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights-Cobble        59.3
Brooklyn: Brownsville        42.7
Brooklyn: Bushwick North        39.2
Brooklyn: Bushwick South        40.2
Brooklyn: Canarsie        34.1
Brooklyn: Carroll Gardens-Columbia-Red Hook        51.0
Brooklyn: Clinton Hill        42.2
Brooklyn: Crown Heights North        36.7
Brooklyn: Crown Heights South        39.7
Brooklyn: Cypress Hills - City Line        36.5
Brooklyn: Dumbo-Vinegar Hill-Downtown Brooklyn-Boerum Hill        51.5
Brooklyn: Dyker Heights        42.9
Brooklyn: East Flatbush-Farragut        34.9
Brooklyn: East New York (part A)        37.9
Brooklyn: East Williamsburg        48.4
Brooklyn: Erasmus        33.4
Brooklyn: Flatbush        41.1
Brooklyn: Flatlands        36.7
Brooklyn: Fort Greene        45.8
Brooklyn: Georgetown-Marine Park-Bergen Beach-Mill Basin        43.7
Brooklyn: Gravesend        48.1
Brooklyn: Greenpoint        40.9
Brooklyn: Homecrest        39.5
Brooklyn: Kensington-Ocean Parkway        45.3
Brooklyn: Madison        45.6
Brooklyn: Midwood        46.0
Brooklyn: North Side-South Side        42.9
Brooklyn: Ocean Hill        35.3
Brooklyn: Ocean Parkway South        40.0
Brooklyn: Park Slope - Gowanus        50.5
Brooklyn: Prospect Heights        50.7
Brooklyn: Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate        39.3
Brooklyn: Rugby - Remsen Village        33.0
Brooklyn: Seagate-Coney Island        48.0
Brooklyn: Sheepshead Bay-Gerritsen Beach-Manhattan Beach        48.0
Brooklyn: Starrett City        59.0
Brooklyn: Stuyvesant Heights        33.6
Brooklyn: Sunset Park East        39.6
Brooklyn: Sunset Park West        45.4
Brooklyn: West Brighton        53.3
Brooklyn: Williamsburg        31.3
Brooklyn: Windsor Terrace        54.3
Manhattan: Battery Park City-Lower Manhattan        47.6
Manhattan: Central Harlem North-Polo Grounds        47.9
Manhattan: Central Harlem South        46.3
Manhattan: Chinatown        52.6
Manhattan: Clinton        53.3
Manhattan: East Harlem North        54.9
Manhattan: East Harlem South        55.2
Manhattan: East Village        50.7
Manhattan: Gramercy        54.3
Manhattan: Hamilton Heights        52.6
Manhattan: Hudson Yards-Chelsea-Flat Iron-Union Square        53.5
Manhattan: Lenox Hill - Roosevelt Island        52.5
Manhattan: Lincoln Square        53.8
Manhattan: Lower East Side        57.3
Manhattan: Manhattanville        57.0
Manhattan: Marble Hill-Inwood        62.4
Manhattan: Midtown -Midtown South        41.8
Manhattan: Morningside Heights        57.9
Manhattan: Murray Hill-Kips Bay        52.5
Manhattan: SoHo-Tribeca-Civic Center-Little Italy        49.1
Manhattan: Stuyvesant Town-Cooper Village        62.4
Manhattan: Turtle Bay -East Midtown        49.4
Manhattan: Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill        52.0
Manhattan: Upper West Side        60.2
Manhattan: Washington Heights North        62.5
Manhattan: Washington Heights South        61.6
Manhattan: West Village        51.5
Manhattan: Yorkville        56.6
Queens: Astoria        48.2
Queens: Auburndale        54.4
Queens: Baisley Park        37.5
Queens: Bayside - Bayside Hills        55.1
Queens: Bellerose        54.6
Queens: Breezy Point-Belle Harbor-Rockaway Park-Broach Channel        44.1
Queens: Briarwood-Jamaica Hills        45.6
Queens: Cambria Heights        43.7
Queens: College Point        44.9
Queens: Corona        43.2
Queens: Douglas Manor-Douglaston-Little Neck        61.8
Queens: East Elmhurst        40.8
Queens: East Flushing        46.3
Queens: Elmhurst        47.7
Queens: Elmhurst - Maspeth        44.2
Queens: Far Rockaway-Bayswater        42.6
Queens: Flushing        49.7
Queens: Forest Hills        56.8
Queens: Fresh Meadows - Utopia        58.6
Queens: Ft. Totten-Bay Terrace-Clearview        62.9
Queens: Glen Oaks-Floral Park-New Hyde Park        61.4
Queens: Glendale        45.4
Queens: Hammels-Arverne-Edgemere        42.3
Queens: Hollis        36.4
Queens: Hunters Point-Sunnyside-West Maspeth        51.9
Queens: Jackson Heights        52.5
Queens: Jamaica        43.4
Queens: Jamaica Estates-Holliswood        51.0
Queens: Kew Gardens        51.7
Queens: Kew Gardens Hills        51.9
Queens: Laurelton        40.9
Queens: Lindenwood-Howard Beach        52.1
Queens: Maspeth        41.9
Queens: Middle Village        48.0
Queens: Murray Hill        50.6
Queens: North Corona        39.0
Queens: Oakland Gardens        62.4
Queens: Old Astoria        45.9
Queens: Ozone Park        43.2
Queens: Pomonok-Flushing Heights-Hillcrest        50.5
Queens: Queens Village        41.2
Queens: Queensboro Hill        44.0
Queens: Queensbridge-Ravenswood-Long Island City        50.4
Queens: Rego Park        51.8
Queens: Richmond Hill        36.0
Queens: Ridgewood        38.3
Queens: Rosedale        36.8
Queens: South Jamaica        36.8
Queens: South Ozone Park        33.0
Queens: Springfield Gardens North        47.9
Queens: Springfield Gardens South-Brookville        35.9
Queens: St. Albans        38.2
Queens: Steinway        44.2
Queens: Whitestone        53.7
Queens: Woodhaven        43.3
Queens: Woodside        51.1
Staten Island: Annadale-Huguenot-Princes Bay        53.9
Staten Island: Arden Heights        56.8
Staten Island: Charleston-Richmond Valley-Tottenville        49.4
Staten Island: Grasmere-Arrochar-Ft. Wadsworth        53.2
Staten Island: Great Kills        56.5
Staten Island: Grymes Hill-Clifton-Fox Hills        48.7
Staten Island: Mariner's Harbor-Arlington-Port Ivory-Graniteville        45.7
Staten Island: New Brighton-Silver Lake        51.0
Staten Island: New Dorp-Midland Beach        52.1
Staten Island: New Springville-Bloomfield-Travis        53.1
Staten Island: Oakwood-Oakwood Beach        59.4
Staten Island: Old Town-Dongan Hills-South Beach        51.8
Staten Island: Port Richmond        48.7
Staten Island: Rossville-Woodrow        53.2
Staten Island: Stapleton-Rosebank        46.0
Staten Island: Todt Hill-Emerson Hill-Heartland Village-Lighthouse Hill        53.6
Staten Island: West New Brighton-New Brighton-St. George        43.6
Staten Island: Westerleigh        58.6