Issue #040 · LatestSaturday, October 24, 2026 · partly sunny, high near 62 · early voting opens 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, City Hall Annex and United Methodist Church sites · last day to register for November 3 · Spooktacular 2:00 to 3:30 PM at the Main Library · HAUNTFEST and The Haunt from 7:00 PM at Wildcliff
Early voting opens at 10, today is the last day to register, and Spooktacular starts at 2
Free local email · Monday + Friday mornings · Written by Sabrina · 4-minute read
Two firsts share this Saturday: the county opens early voting at 10:00 this morning, and today is the last day to register to vote in the November 3 general election, by mail or in person at the Board of Elections. The polls run 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM today, the first of nine days through Sunday, November 1. Two of the county's 25 early voting sites sit in New Rochelle, the City Hall Annex at 90 Beaufort Place and the United Methodist Church at 1200 North Avenue, and you can use either one or any site in the county.
The library's other storyline moved this week. The Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library say they will go to mediation with library trustees over the shutdown of their bookstore, and they proposed Terry Kirchner, executive director of the Westchester Library System, as a possible mediator. The trustees offered mediation first, on October 13. What has not moved is the leadership question: trustees want new Friends leadership before the relationship repairs, and the Friends' voting membership backed its current officers 14 to 0. The bookstore, built about a decade ago with roughly $70,000 in raised funds, closed after renovation plans put tables and chairs where the shelves stand.
This afternoon belongs to the kids. A Spooktacular Celebration runs 2:00 to 3:30 PM at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza, for children of all ages, with a bubble show, crafts and pumpkin decorating, costumes welcome. And the cold snap ends on schedule: the frost advisory lifts at 9:00 this morning, tonight drops to around 42 under mostly clear skies, and Sunday turns sunny with a high near 65.
The questions New Rochelle searches this week, answer first, source after.
When does early voting start in Westchester?
Today. Polls open at 10:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM this first Saturday of the nine-day window, which runs through Sunday, November 1. Two of the county's 25 early voting sites sit in New Rochelle: the City Hall Annex at 90 Beaufort Place and the United Methodist Church at 1200 North Avenue. You can use either one, or any site in the county; you are not locked to a neighborhood location like on Election Day. One more clock runs out today too: October 24 is the last day to register, by mail or in person at the Board of Elections, to vote November 3.
The stretch between Pinebrook Boulevard and Winding Brook Road, yes, and it stays closed into late November. The city shut it starting October 14 for roughly six weeks of work on the Sheldrake Culvert Replacement Project, which upsizes two culverts at Tulip Lane and Pinebrook Boulevard and adds a bypass near Dennis Drive. That is flood-mitigation work, built to move the Sheldrake River along faster when heavy rain hits. Drivers detour by Ramona Court and Amherst Drive; pedestrians can cut north through Pinebrook Park to the crosswalk at Pinebrook Boulevard.
2:00 PM, running to 3:30 PM at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza. It is for children of all ages, costumes welcome, and the plan is a Meet and Greet with a Wild Thing, Miss Jolie's spooky and silly musical bubble show, creepy crafts and pumpkin decorating, with the Garden Club of New Rochelle as special guests. The Teen Room runs its own Halloween Fest the same hours next Saturday, October 31, 2:00 to 5:00 PM.
City Hall runs three meeting nights in a row next week. The Planning Board meets Monday at 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Avenue. The Mayor delivers the State of the City Tuesday, 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the JCC Mid-Westchester, 999 Wilmot Road in Scarsdale, with RSVPs through the city's form at newrochelleny.gov/SOTCRSVP. The IDA follows Wednesday at 7:30 PM, also at City Hall.
While the calendars flip, one road work project is moving toward its end. Tulip Lane between Pinebrook Boulevard and Winding Brook Road stays closed into late November for the Sheldrake culvert work, and the detour runs through Ramona Court and Amherst Drive. The project upsizes two culverts and adds a bypass near Dennis Drive so the Sheldrake River moves faster when heavy rain hits.
Okay. If you go to one thing, the State of the City carries the RSVP deadline, so send the form today and keep Tuesday evening open.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: have an AI plan your nine-day voting window, then check its answer against the county's own schedule page.
The early voting schedule is genuinely confusing: nine days, three different hour patterns, 25 sites, and your own Election Day poll still waiting at the end. An AI assistant can turn the county's schedule into a personal plan in one ask. Tell it your week, your polling preference and which days you are free, and it will hand back something like: register today if you have not, vote Tuesday evening because the site is open until 8:00 PM, and keep November 3 as the backup.
Then do the part the AI cannot do for you. Check its plan against the county's schedule page, because a chatbot repeating a schedule from memory can be a cycle behind. The county page is the record: today through November 1 for early voting, and the two New Rochelle sites are the City Hall Annex at 90 Beaufort Place and the United Methodist Church at 1200 North Avenue. If the plan and the page agree, go vote.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
Early voting opens, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the City Hall Annex, 90 Beaufort Place, and the United Methodist Church, 1200 North Avenue, or any of the county's 25 sites, first of nine days through November 1; last day to register to vote in the November 3 general, by mail or in person; A Spooktacular Celebration for children of all ages, 2:00 to 3:30 PM at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza, costumes welcome; HAUNTFEST, 7:00 to 10:30 PM at Wildcliff Mansion, 44 Wildcliff Rd, music, food truck and vendors; The Haunt, 7:00 to 10:30 PM; mostly clear tonight, low around 42
City Hall Annex, United Methodist Church, Main Library & Wildcliff Mansion · county Board of Elections, library calendar and city calendar
Early voting, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at both New Rochelle sites; The Haunt, 6:30 to 10:00 PM at Wildcliff Mansion; sunny, high near 65
City Hall Annex, United Methodist Church & Wildcliff Mansion · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; Planning Board Meeting, 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Ave
City Hall · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 12:00 to 8:00 PM, the late window; State of the City 2026, 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the JCC Mid-Westchester, 999 Wilmot Rd, Scarsdale; RSVP at newrochelleny.gov/SOTCRSVP
Early voting sites & JCC Mid-Westchester · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; New Rochelle IDA Meeting, 7:30 PM at City Hall
City Hall · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Teen Room: Halloween Fest, 2:00 to 5:00 PM at the Main Library; Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, family-friendly no-scare version with trick-or-treating at the end, timed entry; The Haunt, 7:00 to 10:30 PM
Main Library and Wildcliff Mansion, 44 Wildcliff Rd · library calendar and haunt site
