Ansonia Left Out of Census Database

By Dan Rivoli

The Ansonia—one of the Upper West Side’s most well-known, architecturally significant buildings—does not even exist according to the Census Bureau.

On April 1, New York 1 reported that residents of the 17-story, approximately 450,000 square-foot building, at 2109 Broadway between West 73rd and 74th streets, never received a census form because of a mailing error.

But Lester Farthing, regional director of the U.S Census Bureau, said that the landmark building is not part of the census’ geographical database. Officials are investigating the glitch, according to the letter, which Council Member Gale Brewer brought to the bureau’s attention.

Another building, 250 W. 94th St., on the corner of Broadway, was also left out of the geographical database.

Farthing writes that census staff will conduct “personal enumeration” visits of these buildings—that is, staff will come to to the building with forms and have residents fill them out on the spot.

“In the meantime, we plan to confer with building management for the Ansonia and 250 West 94th Street, to let them know that this special enumeration is about to take place,” Farthing wrote, “and to request permission to post signs at strategic places in the buildings, informing residents that they will be counted.”

When asked how the Census Bureau could not include the historically important Ansonia, the building’s general manager Marc Lippman responded, “with the amount of money the federal government is spending on sending out census notices, it’s a real good question.”

Lippman said the building received a stack of census forms and staff put one in each apartment.

Three additional buildings also never received census forms, including two—307 W. 79th St. and 330 W. 95th St.—that are single room occupancy (SRO) buildings.

Updated.