Collecting and analyzing demographic data from a city of 9 million residents is a formidable task.  But, as Joe Salvo has shown,  it also offers valuable insight into the people that make up America’s largest sprawling metropolis.

Brooklyn alone,  as Salvo pointed out, would have the third highest population of any city in the country.  Sections of Queens are considered to be some of the most ethnically diverse areas in the world. Manhattan’s population is believed to as much as double during the daytime, when workers from the surrounding boroughs and states commute in by car, bus, and train. In the Bronx, Spanish may not be the official language, but its use rivals or supersedes that of English in many neighborhoods.  The city as a whole is experiencing a rapid influx of Asians, yet Staten Island is growing increasingly hispanic, black, and Eastern European.

All of these insights have become available thanks to censuses that though not perfect, do a remarkable job in forming a clear picture of the people who inhabit our five boroughs.  Of course, this system of obtaining demographic information has  intrinsic flaws;  neighborhoods are divided along non-traditional boundaries, participants struggle to identify with generic race categories, and those who choose not to participate often go undocumented.  But with the knowledge of the information we do have, we can more adequately serve the political, economic, and cultural needs of our city’s residence.

-Victor Rerick