Weiner Says His Seat Is Safe

Congressman Anthony Weiner dismissed talk last week that his Ninth District seat was at risk because of an analysis of Census Bureau projections.
"This business is the political version of reading tea leaves," Weiner said. "Nobody knows how this will work out."
The freshman Congressman said that his seat appears safe because Queens is gaining population while upstate population figures are in the decline.
"Right now," he said, "the upstate districts are under more pressure."
Earlier, in an interview in the Daily News, Weiner said "redistricting is a time of political cannibalism, and I fear that I may be the main course."
He explained to The Queens Courier that his quote was blown out of proportion.
"I dont foresee a problem until at least 2020," he said laughingly.
Weiners district includes Forest Hills and Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, census officials reported earlier this month that Queens has the lowest census response, lagging almost 10 points behind the national average.
"Queens is the borough with the highest level of immigration, and I think thats a big problem in the levels of the census undercount," said Bryan Pu Folkes, president of the nonprofit Queens-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment Group.
Dan Andrews, a spokesperson for Borough President Claire Shulman, agreed, calling the 80.7 percent rate "very unsettling."
New or undocumented immigrants may fear that census information will be misused, he added.
According to the New York City Consortium on Census 2000, the response rate in may minority neighborhoods such as Flushing, Jackson Heights and Jamaica lag behind the average.