The U.S. Census Bureau is ending its door-knocking and self-response efforts one month earlier than planned. And New York City, which currently has a response rate that’s lower than the state's and country’s, is scrambling to get counted.

What You Need To Know

  • Trump administration to stop door-knocking, self-response for census one month early

  • NYC's self-response rate is less than 55% as deadline approaches

  • Census takers began going door to door on Thursday

"Please, everyone, every single New Yorker can help," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. "If you haven’t filled out your census, we’re going to tell you again today how crucial it is. If you know people who haven’t filled it out, family, friends, so important to tell them. This really matters."

Census takers began canvassing door to door Thursday in the city, where fewer than 55 percent of residents have filled out census forms.

City officials are reminding New Yorkers of what’s at stake, especially with the Trump administration now wrapping up data collection at the end of September.

"We have two seats in Congress that are potentially on the line. So it is critical that every New Yorker is counted now," said Amit Bagga, deputy director of NYC Census 2020. "The 40 percent of New York City households that have not yet been counted are largely in black, brown and immigrant communities. Trump knows this, and this is exactly why he is trying to steal the money, power and respect that are rightfully ours."

Asked about the remarks, a U.S. Census spokesperson referred NY1 to a statement earlier this week by bureau director Steven Dillingham about the shortened process.

"Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities," he said.

Dillingham faced fire at a recent House hearing over Trump’s attempt at excluding undocumented immigrants from the count. The matter is now in federal court.

"The mission right now is a complete and accurate account that will include everyone living in the country," Dillingham testified at the late July hearing.

City officials have stressed that New Yorkers filling out the census will not be asked their legal status.

To convey the importance of the census to the city’s multicultural population, census resources are available in more than two dozen languages. And celebrities have been enlisted to get out the word, from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Alicia Keys to Seth Meyers to Oscar the Grouch.