The Westchester Brief | 06.04.26: The Sanctuary County Fight

The Westchester Brief | 06.08.26: The Rent Vote Nobody Is Watching

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] On June 22, the Westchester County Rent Guidelines Board will vote on allowable rent increases for all rent-stabilized apartments in the county — leases running October 2026 through September 2027. Last year's approved rates were 2% for one-year leases and 3% for two-year leases. Landlords say those increases fell short of actual cost growth. Tenants say any increase is a burden in a county where workforce housing is already scarce. Today's episode breaks down how the board works, who controls it, and what is actually at stake for the tens of thousands of Westchester households in rent-stabilized units. In This Episode: (0:00) The June 22 vote and what it decides (1:00) How the Rent Guidelines Board is structured — and where the real power sits (2:30) The landlord argument: building costs outpaced last year's increases (3:30) The tenant argument: workforce housing in a county where rents already hit $3,000+ (4:30) What's Happening in Westchester: Summer season opens — Playland, Wine and Food Festival, Pride Subscribe to the I Live Here Westchester newsletter for the full story delivered weekly: iliveheremedia.com Westchester County, I Live Here Westchester, local news, rent stabilization, Westchester housing, Rent Guidelines Board, tenant rights, landlord, Yonkers Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/support] 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 [https://www.iliveheremedia.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia [https://www.instagram.com/iliveheremedia/] Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

The Friday Intel | 06.05.26: Westchester's Crime Drop — What a 25% Decline Actually Tells You

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] Violent crime in Westchester County fell 25% in 2025 — and that number deserves more than a headline. All seven major crime categories declined simultaneously. Overall index crime dropped 17%. And one city — Mount Vernon — reported zero shooting incidents in the first quarter of 2026, placing it among just five departments statewide to reach that mark. This week on The Friday Intel, Jim breaks down what actually drove the numbers: the Real Time Crime Intelligence Center, the multi-agency DOVE enforcement operation, and the focused deterrence model behind both. Then he asks the harder question: can it hold? In This Episode: 00:00 — The number: 25% 01:45 — The mechanism: Real Time Crime Center and DOVE 04:10 — The breakdown: all seven categories 05:30 — The standout: Mount Vernon's zero-shooting quarter 08:00 — The sustainability question 11:15 — Close Sources: - Westchester County State of the County Address, May 2026 - Talk of the Sound / Mid Hudson News crime reporting - NYS DCJS (cross-reference pending) Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/support] 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 [https://www.iliveheremedia.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia [https://www.instagram.com/iliveheremedia/] Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

The Westchester Brief | 06.04.26: The Sanctuary County Fight

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] Westchester County is on the Trump administration's Department of Justice list of sanctuary jurisdictions — but County Executive Ken Jenkins says that designation is wrong, and the distinction he's drawing has real legal and financial weight. Today's episode breaks down what Westchester's actual policy says, what the DOJ designation means under Executive Order 14287, and what the funding exposure looks like for the county. We also look at the anti-commandeering legal doctrine the county is leaning on, the airport security standoff that made the stakes concrete, and the immigrant communities in Yonkers, Port Chester, and New Rochelle at the center of it all. Timestamps: 0:00 — Hook: Westchester on the DOJ list 0:30 — What the county's policy actually says 1:30 — The DOJ designation and Executive Order 14287 2:30 — Funding exposure and the airport standoff 3:20 — The legal doctrine behind the county's argument 4:10 — The human stakes: Westchester's immigrant communities 5:00 — What Jenkins is threading Sources: - Executive Order 14287 (Federal Register) - Westchester County Executive public statements - Second Circuit case law on anti-commandeering doctrine - U.S. Census Bureau demographic data, Westchester County Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/support] 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 [https://www.iliveheremedia.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia [https://www.instagram.com/iliveheremedia/] Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

The Westchester Brief | 06.03.26: Fifteen Years Without County Mental Health Services. What Did It Cost?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] In 2011, Westchester County closed its outpatient mental health clinics. This past March, after nearly fifteen years, the county opened a new Mental Health Safety Net Clinic in White Plains. County Executive Jenkins called it a signature initiative. The honest version: it's a policy reversal — and the 2011 closure was a policy choice with real consequences. Today's Brief examines what the fifteen-year gap actually cost: ER overcrowding, overburdened nonprofits, and a system that left the people with the least private-market access to care with the least county support. It also asks whether one clinic, in one location, is proportionate to the problem. In This Episode: (0:00) Cold open — the 2011 closure (0:30) What the new clinic offers and where it is (1:15) What the fifteen-year gap cost: ERs, nonprofits, families (2:30) Income stratification and mental health access in Westchester (3:15) What the county got right in 2026 (4:00) Whether one clinic is enough (4:45) Close Sources: Westchester County government | County budget documents | American Hospital Association | National Alliance on Mental Illness Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/support] 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 [https://www.iliveheremedia.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia [https://www.instagram.com/iliveheremedia/] Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

The Westchester Brief | 06.02.26: 957 Units. 105 Affordable. The Math No One Is Running on Westchester Crossing.

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] Governor Hochul broke ground on Westchester Crossing in Port Chester in April — 957 housing units, a hotel, retail, green space, and senior housing on the long-vacant former United Hospital campus. The state calls it transformational. Today's Brief asks the harder question. 105 of those 957 units are designated affordable. That's 11%. Housing advocates typically cite 20% as the threshold where affordability shapes a development's character. Westchester needs between 44,000 and 77,000 more units by 2040. And the AMI threshold for those 105 units — the number that determines who actually qualifies — has not been made public. This episode holds both things simultaneously: the milestone is real, and the math deserves scrutiny. In This Episode: (0:00) Cold open — 105. That's the number. (0:30) What Westchester Crossing actually is (1:15) The 11% affordability ratio (2:00) The AMI question nobody is answering (3:00) Port Chester context — who this community is (3:45) The gap between the press release and the housing need (4:30) Close Sources: Governor's Office | Business Council of Westchester | HUD income limits | U.S. Census Bureau Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/support] 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 [https://www.iliveheremedia.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia [https://www.instagram.com/iliveheremedia/] Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.