Kensington Suffers 'Stark Digital Divide,' Comptroller Says

KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — Kensington is one five New York City areas where almost half of residents live without internet access, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer says this "digital divide" could put the city at risk of losing $5.8 billion in census-derived revenue.

Only 46 percent of residents in Kensington, Borough Park and Ocean Parkway have broadband internet access at home, a problem city comptroller fears could provide serious problems during the 2020 Decennial Census, the first to be conducted primarily online.

"The Trump Administration has already taken several steps that seem all but designed to result in an undercount – especially among people of color," the report reads.

"These glaring disparities in internet access are just one potential barrier to conducting a full and accurate census count."

The Comptroller's report, "Census and The City: Overcoming NYC’s Digital Divide in the 2020 Census," released Tuesday, found about 2.2 million New Yorkers, or about 29 percent of all city households, were without broadband internet access in 2017.

Lack of access was clustered in neighborhoods across the city: only 50 percent of Chinatown and the Lower East Side residents in Manhattan had internet and just 48 percent of Hunts Point, Longwood and Melrose residents in The Bronx.

New Yorkers' inability to log on could have a grave fiscal impact on the city when the 2020 census collects data on where to spend billions of federal dollars, the report argues.

Programs that support school lunches, Head Start, winter heating assistance, transportation improvements, and more will be determined by how many people are counted in New York City, the study notes.

"New York City and State must mobilize every resource to reach every individual," the study reads. "In many ways the City is already trailing behind other jurisdictions."

Among its recommendation, the Comptroller's office report suggests sending paper forms to neighborhoods such as Kensington, expanding internet resources in public libraries and increasing public awareness of the importance of the census.

But the report does not conclude on an optimistic note.

"Prepare for problems," it suggests.

Bklyner was first to report on the Comptroller's findings in central Brooklyn.