NYC NOW - October 29, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

The dry weather continues this week. And temperatures are expected to be unusually high, reaching the upper 70s on Halloween. Meanwhile, a new bill in the New Jersey legislature could bring relief to homeowners still struggling to recover from Hurricane Ida. Plus, the Yankees face elimination Tuesday night in Game 4 of the World Series after falling to the Dodgers on Monday. Finally, with Election Day one week away, early voting is well underway in New York and New Jersey. WNYC’s Brigid Bergin looks at how it's going so far.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, October 29th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Trick-or-treaters may want to consider some lighter costumes this year, as local temps could hit the high 70s on Halloween. Meteorologist Brian Simnecki says Thursday is going to be sunny with temperatures more than 10 degrees warmer than usual for this time of view.

It's not uncommon that we get some warmer temperatures this time of year. It just so happens that, you know, Thursday is going to be warmed, and then, you know, Friday we're kind of right back into the cooler temperatures. We do cool off this weekend with highs around 60 for the New York Marathon taking place on Sunday. New Jersey homeowners still recovering three years after Hurricane Ida may soon get some relief. A new bill would pause their mortgage payments for 12 months. Bob Simpson says the storm forced in front. from his Manville, New Jersey home three years ago.

I'm almost ready to give it back to the bank because of the cost, because I've had to be paying the mortgage and rent where I'm in a hotel. Survivors say they're cautiously optimistic. They'll get relief this time. Governor Phil Murphy vetoed a similar bill. He has not commented on this version of the bill. Well, the New York Yankees face elimination tonight in game four of the World Series. The Dodgers went up three games to none last night at Yankee Stadium with a four to two win.

Game four tonight at 8 o'clock in the Bronx. No major league team has ever come from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. 63 big clouds right now, slim chance of late afternoon showers today, partly sunny and 64. Another slim chance of showers by 8 tonight and then patchy fog, mid-50s for love. Stay close. There's more after the break. Election Day is exactly one week from today, but early voting is already underway in New York and New Jersey. In New York City, voters turned out on record numbers over the weekend. Joining us now to discuss how it's going and what you need to know if you have not gone out yet to your poll site is WNIC's senior politics reporter, Bridget Berg and Bridget.

I said it was a record-breaking weekend. Tell us a little bit about those numbers. How many more people came out to vote across New York City? Yeah, Michael. So on that first day of early voting here in New York City, we broke the record for the first day of early voting ever with a turnout that was about 50,000 voters more than the highest we've ever had before. So about 140,000 voters came out just on the first day of early voting.

Similarly, over in New Jersey, they also broke the record for the first day of early voting with 135,000 ballots cast statewide that day. Now, back here in the city, the numbers dipped a little bit on Sunday, but by the close of polls yesterday, a total of 385,265 voters had cast their ballots in person already. That's about 70,000 more voters compared to four years ago. Wow. And not to make it competitive, but how did that turn out compare by Borough? Well, we've got to make it a little competitive, Michael. We're talking about the future of democracy. here. So shout out to you Brooklyn voters. You are leading the pack. 115,286 Brooklyn voters came out so far

during early voting. Manhattan voters, you're holding your own. About 106,870 voters cast their ballot in Manhattan. Now, Queens voters, my beloved neighbors, it's time to step it up. We have the population and the registered voters to keep up, but only 87,174 voters have made it out for early voting. Now, turnout tends to be lower in the Bronx, and so far 40,217 voters have turned out for early voting. And finally, the smallest furrow by population eligible voters, Staten Island, has seen 35,718 voters hit those polls so far. Now, Bridget, you were all talking to voters on the first day of early voting. What were some of the issues voters said were motivating that? Yeah, that's right.

It's one of my favorite things to do, to talk to voters. And so I went over to Rochdale Village Community Center in Southeast Queens right towards the end of that first day. And people were more than willing to tell me why they turned out. The first person I ran into was a man named Michael Shannon. He is a retired police lieutenant who then decided to become an elementary school teacher. He says he never misses an election because he knows how much people have sacrificed for his rights to vote. My dad was a military guy, so, you know, he's out there in the military cemetery, so honor him by voting and honoring his sacrifice. So you hear that, you know, just general sense of civic duty there, but for several others that I spoke with, you know, many of them women, lots of women who were coming out of that poll site, there was a real concern over the right to bodily autonomy.

That was very high on their list of issues that was motivating them. This is Tricia Haynes, who was there with her son. who also had voted, talking about what brought her out to the poll. The freedom to make your own choice. Definitely, I have a 16-year-old daughter, and I think it matters a lot for her to be able to make her own choice. And, Michael, I heard similar explanations like that from several women of all ages. We've talked about the Aaron Kennedy's on one side of the ballot, and then questions on the back. Did voters seem to know about those ballot questions on the bat?

Yeah, you know, it was interesting. I did ask voters, particularly women who mentioned women's rights being an issue since we know that the first ballot question, Prop 1, has to do with enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. I'd say the responses were mixed. I think we're really likely to see some drop off from the numbers where we see votes for candidates compared, you know, from the front of the ballot to what we see. in those six ballot questions on the back. Now, we have focused primarily on early voting right here in New York City, but what's the turnout like for the rest of the state? Yeah, that statewide data I have now is only through the weekend,

but we are seeing some impressive turnout in early voting, you know, compared to previous elections so far just through the weekend, more than 700,000 voters across New York State cast their ballots on Saturday and Sunday. The State Board told me Saturday was the high. highest day of early voting turnout ever statewide. Now, of course, we've only had early voting since 2019, that general election in 2020 was the first presidential election where we had early voting, which, you know, was, of course, in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, you know, circumstances are much different this time around. We're going to see if that enthusiasm continues.

And, Michael, you know, you're into that kind of thing. There are special early voting Halloween stickers and temporary tattoos for kids available here in New York City on Thursday. So clearly I'm waiting until Thursday to go vote. Okay. Finally, for anyone who has not yet voted, what do we need to know before we head to the polls? Well, so it's always important to check your registration and poll site information before you go vote. If you're not registered, I'm really sorry. The deadline was Saturday.

It's too late now. remember if you're someone who maybe only votes in presidential election years, you may have new state and federal candidates on your ballot because of redistricting. It was a really contentious process, multiple legal challenges. And I've already heard from some voters this past weekend who are right on the edge of a congressional district that's changed. And they suddenly are seeing this new candidate on their ballot and they're worried that they have the wrong ballot. But if this feels like your experience, I really encourage you to check your ballot online with the State Board of Elections. They have a poll finder and sample ballot and just make sure that the candidates that you see

on your ballot are the ones that you are expecting to see. And then finally, state officials are really on high alert for any instances of misinformation or voter suppression if you think you are seeing any of that or if you face problems at your pool site. You can reach out to the state attorney general. There's an election hotline. That number is 1866-390-292. We have more of that information on our website, gothamist.com, and get out there and vote. I guess when you say misinformation, we're not allowed to report to the state attorney general any of the political ads that we're seeing from time to time. NYC's early voting maiden, Bridgetberg, and Bridgett, thank you.

Thank you, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a date, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.