The United States Census Bureau announced Sunday it has rejected the city’s challenge to the 2010 Census results, saying its numbers were accurate. The Census totaled the city’s population at 8.2 million, but city officials argued the number was closer to 8.4 million.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg formally challenged the numbers in a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau last August, saying tens of thousands were not counted.

He said he believed many housing units in Brooklyn and Queens were mistakenly classified as vacant.

While the Census Bureau admits there was a geographic placement error while calculating the numbers, it said the error did not affect the total population.

Census numbers help determine the amount of federal money the city receives.

In response to the announcement, city planning officials say it’s unfortunate the errors can’t be fixed but it will work with the bureau to improve census procedures for the 2020 Census.

(Source: NY1)