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Forty Westchester municipalities, organized through the Westchester Municipal Consortium, fought Con Edison's original rate request of about 19% electric and 13% gas. State regulators approved a settlement in January under case 25-E-0072, cutting that ask but still raising electric rates 3.5% in 2026, 3.2% in 2027, and 3.1% in 2028. This episode breaks down the compounding math behind those numbers.

In This Episode
(0:00) Cold open: forty towns organized against Con Edison's rate hike
(0:20) The original ask, the pushback, and 20,000 public comments to state regulators
(1:15) The approved settlement: 3.5%, 3.2%, 3.1% over three years
(2:10) The compounding math on a $100 bill
(3:00) What's still unresolved, and what State Senator Shelley Mayer says about affordability
(3:50) What's Happening: Westchester Crossing breaks ground in Port Chester
(4:25) Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveherewestchester.com

Sources
Yonkers Times, coverage of the approved settlement
NY Department of Public Service, official case decision summary (25-E-0072)
NY State Senate, statement from State Senator Shelley Mayer

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I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

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Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Westchester County says it needs 21,000 more housing units, but the confirmed development pipeline under construction right now covers only a fraction of that gap. Jim breaks down the math behind four projects in Port Chester, Yonkers, and Ossining, and what a tight housing supply means for rents, home prices, and property tax bills across Westchester County.

In This Episode:
(0:00) The 21,000-unit housing shortfall, and where the number comes from
(0:30) Westchester Crossing in Port Chester: 957 apartments, 105 affordable
(1:45) Yonkers' 16-story tower: 160 affordable apartments
(2:20) Ossining's Station Plaza and Crescent Manor
(2:50) The math: 1,299 units against a 21,000-unit gap, and what it means for taxes
(3:45) The county's funding tools, and the unanswered timeline question
(4:45) What's Happening: Wayfair's first New York store lands at Ridge Hill

Sources: Welcome Home Westchester (welcomehomewestchester.org); Regional Plan Association and Westchester County Association; Governor Hochul's office (governor.ny.gov); Westchester County (westchestercountyny.gov); New York State Homes and Community Renewal (hcr.ny.gov).

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Support the show

I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia

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New York banned local police from cooperating with ICE under 287(g) agreements starting August 25, 2026, but no Westchester department has said whether it ever held one. We break down the new Office of Immigrant Trust's enforcement letters and subpoenas, and why Westchester County Police, White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mamaroneck all remain unconfirmed while ICE keeps operating in the county. The state has already subpoenaed four counties elsewhere in New York for non-compliance, and fifteen county sheriffs have sued to block the law entirely.

In This Episode
(0:00) Cold open: the question nobody's answered
(0:20) The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act takes effect
(1:15) Enforcement: the Office of Immigrant Trust, letters, and subpoenas
(2:15) Westchester's status: not on either list
(3:15) ICE activity in White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mamaroneck
(4:15) What's Happening: Wayfair's first New York store lands at Ridge Hill

Sources: Governor Hochul's Office; NY Attorney General's Office; Gothamist; Westfair Communications; Larchmont Loop.

Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveherewestchester.com.

Support the show

I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia

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This week, every public school district in Westchester County, plus both regional BOCES, faced a brand-new deadline: publish, for the first time ever, exactly how many students were disciplined for cellphone use last year, and whether that discipline fell evenly across demographic groups. New York's bell-to-bell phone restriction became law in May 2025; September 1, 2026 was the first date districts had to show their work. No state agency compiles the results, so we checked all 45 entities ourselves. Only three -- Hastings-on-Hudson, New Rochelle, and Southern Westchester BOCES -- gave us a complete, readable report. Six districts have a written policy promising this exact report and haven't delivered it. The other 35, including Yonkers, Scarsdale, and White Plains, couldn't be confirmed either way. And the one clean report we did get found a real gender disparity in phone-related discipline at the high school level.

In This Episode
0:00 Cold Open
0:30 Intro and Context
1:30 The Data
3:30 The Surprise
5:00 What This Means For You
6:00 Close

Sources: New York State phone-free-schools implementation resources (ny.gov); Albany Law School Government Law Center smartphone restrictions summary; individual Westchester district and BOCES websites (checked September 3, 2026).

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I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Starting October 1, Washington's share of SNAP administrative costs drops from 50 percent to 25 percent, and New York public radio has named Westchester one of the hardest-hit counties in the state — with an estimated $4.5 million cost shift the county hasn't confirmed. This episode connects the dots to Monday's budget story and previews a bigger federal change coming in 2027.

In This Episode
(0:00) How the SNAP administrative cost shift works
(1:30) Westchester's estimated $4.5 million hit, and why it's unconfirmed
(3:00) Why the timing matters for the 2027 budget
(4:30) The bigger SNAP change coming in 2027
(5:30) What's Happening: White Plains' Galleria redevelopment

Sources: NYSAC's SNAP Cost Shift Resource Center; NYS Focus; WAMC.

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I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Westchester Medical Center Health Network quietly unified eight hospitals — including Westchester Medical Center itself — under a single operating license on July 15. The network says nothing changes for patients. Nobody outside WMCHealth has independently checked that against the state's own records, and the story went unreported locally for six weeks.

In This Episode
(0:00) The July 15 license unification and the eight facilities involved
(1:30) What WMCHealth says changes, and what it says doesn't
(3:00) Why this matters for where patients get sent
(4:30) What's Happening: Con Edison's finalized rate increases

Sources: Westchester Medical Center Health Network press release; Becker's Hospital Review; Yonkers Times.

Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveheremedia.com.

Support the show

I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia

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A hidden camera in a Marine veteran's room at the New York State Veterans Home in Montrose allegedly caught a certified nursing assistant abusing him — leading to a felony arrest, a firing, and a demand from five state lawmakers for an investigation into a facility with more than 47 complaints and 25 citations since 2021.

In This Episode
(0:00) Albert O'Toole, the hidden camera, and the footage
(1:00) Matthew Cox's arrest and the Montrose facility's record
(3:00) Five state lawmakers demand an investigation
(4:00) A background check the state says missed a prior record
(5:30) What's Happening: Two Westchester beaches remain closed

Sources: News 12 Hudson Valley; CBS New York; Daily Voice (Cortlandt); NYSenate.gov.

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Support the show

I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia

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The county cut 180 jobs and raised property taxes to close a $197.7 million budget gap. Six months later, Westchester's own midyear forecast puts that gap at $9.4 million — and county officials haven't explained why the numbers moved so much, or what that means as the 2027 budget process begins.

In This Episode
(0:00) The county's original $197.7 million shortfall and this year's cuts
(1:30) The Second Quarter Financial Forecast and the new $9.4 million number
(3:00) Where the money actually moved — expenses, revenue, Bee-Line, Playland
(5:00) What's Happening: Toll Brothers' new Harrison townhome community

Sources: Daily Voice and whiteplainscnr.com, reporting on Westchester County's Second Quarter Financial Forecast; News 12 Westchester.

Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveheremedia.com.

Support the show

I Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.
We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.

Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?
Email: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia

Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.