New Yorkers mock claim NYC is ‘dead’ as population grows 629,000 on census

‘Never bet against our city,’ one person tweeted

New York City now has 8.8m residents, census shows (Getty Images)

People are celebrating New York City’s perseverance, and pointing out the irony, after a new report found that the city’s numbers have grown by thousands over the last decade, despite predictions of a decline.

According to the US Census Bureau’s 2020 Census, New York City has experienced huge growth over the last 10 years, with the report finding the city has added 629,000 residents, bringing the current population to 8.8m.

While an influx of new residents contributed to the increase, Peter Lobo, the city’s chief demographer, also noted the part played by the identification of more than 265,000 addresses that the Census Bureau did not previously have, Gothamist reports.

“Very conservatively, as a result we added half a million people who would’ve otherwise been missed,” he told the outlet.

Speaking to The New York Times, Lobo also said the numbers, even when taking into account possible loss of population during the pandemic, are proof that the city is “thriving,” and that claims New York City is declining are incorrect.

“The decline of New York City has been foretold very often - incorrectly,” he said. “I understand that this is largely a pre-Covid population, but adding over 600,000 people is like adding the population of Miami. It’s huge.”

On Twitter, New Yorkers have welcomed the news, while also finding humour in the irony of the census findings coming after numerous people announced their intention to leave the city, or claimed that the bustling metropolis was “dead,” amid the pandemic.

“Pretty ironic given the 629,000 ‘Why I’m Leaving New York’ essays published since the previous Census,” FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver tweeted.

Another person wrote: “While everyone was moving to Miami on Twitter, New York added the equivalent of everyone in Miami to its population.”

Others joked about the commonly uttered claim that cities wouldn’t be the same post-pandemic, with someone else adding: “I was reliably informed that the cities are dead.”

The census findings also prompted heartfelt posts from New Yorkers praising the city’s steadfastness, with one person writing: “Never bet against NYC,” while another said: “Can’t keep us down.”

According to the 2020 Census, each of the city’s five boroughs grew, with New York City now accounting for “nearly 44 per cent of the state’s total population”.