The Westchester Brief | 06.04.26: The Sanctuary County Fight

The Westchester Brief | 06.10.26: The Billion-Dollar Quantum Company in Elmsford

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] A Westchester-based company just hit a $1 billion valuation in quantum computing — one of the most strategically important technology sectors in the world — and almost no one in the county has heard of it. SEEQC, Inc. manufactures superconducting quantum chips in Elmsford, expanded its facility with a $3 million Empire State Development grant, and is closing a merger with Allegro Merger Corp. today. Today's episode covers what SEEQC actually does, why quantum hardware manufacturing is different from anything else in Westchester's economy, and what the Element 46 accelerator's tech trajectory says about where the county is heading. In This Episode: (0:00) SEEQC: What it is and why it matters (1:00) Quantum hardware vs. quantum software — the manufacturing layer that can't move (2:30) Why Elmsford? The state incentive and talent corridor story (3:30) Element 46 Demo Day: Westchester on the national tech calendar (4:30) What's Happening in Westchester: New York Blood Center Enterprises campus opens in Rye Subscribe on YouTube for the video version: youtube.com/@iliveherewestchester Westchester County, I Live Here Westchester, local news, SEEQC, quantum computing, Elmsford, tech economy, Element 46, Westchester business, Empire State Development 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 | 06.9.26: The Gun Warning Law Nobody Is Watching Implement

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2468485/fan_mail/new] The Westchester County Board of Legislators unanimously passed the Visual Gun Warning Law on June 2 — requiring licensed gun retailers to display graphic health warning imagery at the point of sale. Westchester is the second jurisdiction in the United States to enact this type of requirement. The vote is done. The implementation hasn't started. Today's episode covers what the law actually requires, what the county's Department of Health now has to design, what the First Amendment exposure looks like, and why a unanimous vote is only the beginning of this story. In This Episode: (0:00) What the Visual Gun Warning Law requires — and what it doesn't yet answer (1:00) The Department of Health's role: designing the imagery from scratch (2:30) What research says about graphic health warnings at point of sale (3:30) The First Amendment challenge: compelled speech and what courts have said (4:30) What's Happening in Westchester: Element 46 Demo Day, Westchester on national Tech Week calendar Subscribe on YouTube for the video version: youtube.com/@iliveherewestchester Westchester County, I Live Here Westchester, local news, gun safety, Visual Gun Warning Law, Westchester legislation, public health, firearms, Board of Legislators 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 | 06.08.26: 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.