U.S. Census Bureau

The Bronx was one of only two U.S. counties in 2007 outside of the West and the South with a majority Hispanic population, according to new census estimates culled from counties with at least 10,000 residents each.

Of the 46 majority Hispanic counties nationwide, only the Bronx and Sweard, Kan., were outside of Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington State.

Also, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx were three of the 13 counties of populations of at least one million with majority-minority populations generally, according to the census estimates.

More on the census stats here.

New York State ranked 47 out of 51 for population growth between mid-2006 and mid-2007, adding an estimated 15,741 people to its ranks, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Census numbers, slated for release today, put New York in the company of other Northeastern and formerly industrial-dependent states, barely adding population as states in warmer climates, such as Nevada, Utah, and Georgia, flourish. The pace of growth here has been so slow that it appears Florida, which had less than 10 million people about a quarter decade ago, is creeping up on the Empire State, with an estimated 18.25 million to New York’s 19.28 million.  read more »

Speculators and new construction have driven the national homeowner vacancy rate to its highest level ever, according to the Census Bureau.

The rate that measures how many vacant homes are on the sales market hit 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006, up from 2.0 percent a year earlier. Last year marked the first time the rate went above 2.0 percent. The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that the spike was due partly to speculators trying to cash out of the housing market and partly to new construction that will have to slow for the vacancy rate to ebb.

The Real Estate couldn't find the homeownership rate for New York State or New York City. If anyone knows if such info exists--and where it can be found--please email. (The Census Bureau pegged the Northeast's rate at 2.0 percent.)

Here's the Census Bureau's release (PDF).

- Tom Acitelli

Mayor Bloomberg announced today that he won his fight to get the Census Bureau to up its 2005 estimate of the five-borough population by 0.9 percent, to 8,213,839. It is ironic, of course, that in an era when the city is struggling to find space for its residents to live that it would want to claim more of them, but in this case, the extra push qualified New York for $23 million more in state housing funds that are tied to population, according to a City Hall press release. -Matthew Schuerman

Capitol Confidential has it that Tom Golisano is working hard on the local level.

DMI blog discusses the so-called exodus of Black New Yorkers reported in the Times on Monday. They say, "the article never mentioned the fact that the Census Bureau does not count as city residents African Americans from New York City incarcerated upstate --- rather, it considers them residents of the upstate counties in which they are imprisoned. "

And Yoda revisits 'Cuomo not the Homo' on Room Eight.

—Nicole Brydson

The Census Bureau is holding on to ritual, and defends including prisoners in the count for a voting district’s population, despite the fact that prisoners are stripped of their right to vote. Without the residencies of inmates, in particular in Upstate New York, many towns would be too small to be considered a district, yet their presence affects legislative redistricting for Congress, Senate and the Assembly. Moreover, the transfer to upstate jails hurts the city’s voting numbers. Gotham Gazette - Riva Froymovich

The city's Housing and Vacancy Survey is out, and Crain's has the relevant take-away: "The home-ownership rate in New York City reached an all-time high in 2005 but housing was more scarce for low and medium-income households."

During the last three years the city added 52,000 units, and one in three households own a home -- the highest rate since the survey began in 1965. The median income for homeowners was $65,000.

But the number of rent-stabilized units, where the median household annual income was $32,000, was nearly unchanged at 1.04 million.

Nevertheless, Bloomberg is playing it like good news. The headline on today's press release from City Hall: "Housing Stock Expands Significantly; Homeownership at All-Time High, Rent-Stabilized Unit Count Holds Firm and Neighborhood Satisfaction Improves."  read more »

The full statement after the jump.

- Tom McGeveran

You think it's tough being a U.S.  read more »

A year ending in two or three zeros is the occasion for drinking extra champagne.  read more »