When Grand Central Terminal opened in 1913, it immediately became one of the most beautiful and recognizable Manhattan landmarks, and to celebrate its centennial, Sam Roberts of The New York Times looks back at Grand Central's conception, history, and the cultural effects the station has had on busy commuters and tourists. His book Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America looks at the way the station spurred suburban expansion and fostered the nation's westward movement via the railroad.

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent  for The New York Times, looks at the new census numbers showing more children under five living in Manhattan, but fewer children city-wide.

»» Check out WNYC's census maps below

E.J. McMahon, senior fellow for Tax and Budgetary Studies at the Manhattan Institute and director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, and Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent  for the New York Times, explain the migration of New Yorkers over time, and how the latest report from the Empire Center fits with census data.

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent  for The New York Times, looks at the new census numbers showing more children under five living in Manhattan, but fewer children city-wide.

»» Check out WNYC's census maps below

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, joins us as our weekly guest this month to talk about the census results and what they show about Americans and New Yorkers. In his final segment with us in this series, he digs deep into the NYC and metropolitan area census figures.

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Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, is a weekly guest for the month of March. Each week he talks about the 2010 Census results and what they reveal about Americans and New Yorkers. This week he discusses poverty.

→  Listen, Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's a Free Country

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, is a weekly guest for the month of March. Each week he talks about the 2010 Census results and what they reveal about Americans and New Yorkers. This week he discusses how the Hispanic population has expanded.

→  Listen, Read a Recap, and Add Your Comments at It's A Free Country

On The Brian Lehrer Show today at 10:40 am.  Audio and a recap of this conversation will be posted here by 1pm.

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, is a weekly guest for the month of March. Each week he talks about the 2010 Census results and what they reveal about Americans and New Yorkers. This week he discusses how the Hispanic population has expanded.

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, is a weekly guest for the month of March. Each week he talks about the 2010 Census results and what they reveal about Americans and New Yorkers. This week he discusses New Jersey.

→  Hear Audio, Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's a Free Country

-- Sam Roberts of the New York Times, on the Brian Lehrer Show

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, is a weekly guest for the month of March. Each week he talks about the 2010 Census results and what they reveal about Americans and New Yorkers. This week he discusses the "shifting ethnic mosaic" of New York City's five boroughs.

→ Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's A Free Country

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for the New York Times, looks at the new census data that shows that the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island have the country's longest commute, among other revealing data.

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent for The New York Times, discusses the discovery of nearly 200,000 unreported votes from the election night totals of the November elections.

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Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent  for The New York Times, Angelo Falcón, president and founder of the National Institute for Latino Policy, and Andrew Beveridge, professor of sociology at Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center and developer of socialexplorer.com, wrap up our census coverage with a discussion of the overall demographic trends of the last 10 years in the New York City metropolitan area. 

Sam Roberts, urban affairs correspondent  for The New York Times,  Angelo Falcón, president and founder of the National Institute for Latino Policy, and Andrew Beveridge, professor of sociology at Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center and developer of socialexplorer.com, wrap up our census coverage with a discussion of the overall demographic trends of the last 10 years in the New York City metropolitan area.

Check your mailbox, you may have already received a letter warning of the imminent arrival of your mandatory census questionnaire. But did you know that answering those questions is vitally important for the funding of local, regional and nationally funded programs? Or that the information you put in remains confidential for 70 years?

The federal government is thinking about implementing a new formula to calculate poverty. The new formula would increase the number of poor from 13.2 percent to 15.8 percent. The striking change comes among the elderly, where under the new measure, 18.7 percent of people 65-years-old and over are under the poverty line. That's 7.1 million Americans and an increase from 9.7 percent.