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Westchester County wants to spend up to $150 million modernizing the HPN airport terminal. The Friday Intel digs into the data and finds the catch: HPN moves 2.2 million passengers through a 1995 terminal capped at 240 scheduled passengers every half hour, a 1980s limit the renovation won't touch. The county is buying comfort, not capacity.

In This Episode
(0:00) A $150 million fix, and the number nobody mentions
(0:25) The 1995 terminal and 2.2 million passengers
(1:10) The 240-per-half-hour cap and four-of-six-gates rule from the 1980s
(2:15) The surprise: comfort versus capacity
(3:00) What it means if you fly HPN, live nearby, or pay county taxes
(3:50) Close

Sources
Westchester County and HNTB: the terminal modernization and feasibility study
Airport capacity data: HPN passenger counts and the Terminal Capacity Agreement

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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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Barnes & Noble is gone from White Plains City Center and Neiman Marcus is leaving The Westchester, while Wayfair plants its first New York store in Yonkers. We map who is moving out and who is moving in across Westchester County, and explain what vacant anchors do to mall values and the local sales-tax base.

In This Episode
(0:00) Two stores out, a furniture warehouse in
(0:20) The closings: Barnes & Noble, CH Martin, Neiman Marcus, Saks Off Fifth
(1:15) The openings: Wayfair, MINISO, and the dining wave
(2:15) Why a dark anchor hits shopping-center values and the tax base
(3:00) The 20,000-unit residential bet underneath it all
(3:40) What else is happening: Housing Flex Fund II's August 21 deadline
(4:05) Close

Sources
Westchester Magazine: business openings and closings
Westfair: Neiman Marcus and the Saks Global restructuring

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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The Essential Plan cliff lands today. As of July 1, New York lowered the income line for its no-premium health plan, and roughly 47,000 Hudson Valley residents, many in Westchester County, lose coverage. We trace the change from a 2025 federal law to a Westchester kitchen table, and explain where the costs go next.

In This Episode
(0:00) A rule changes today, and 47,000 neighbors wake up uninsured
(0:25) How the income line dropped from 250% to 200% of poverty
(1:15) The federal law that cut $7.5 billion from a $14 billion program
(2:15) Marketplace plans, premiums, and the $2.5 billion left unspent
(3:00) Why uninsured residents become a hospital and county cost
(3:40) What else is happening: the Katonah Museum's founding-families exhibit
(4:10) Close

Sources
Fiscal Policy Institute: regional impacts of the July 2026 Essential Plan cliff
NY State of Health and NY Health Access: the income-eligibility change

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Westchester is short roughly 21,000 homes and rental vacancy sits under two percent. The usual explanation is land, money, and demand. This week's guest, developer Nick Khamsopa, makes a different case: the real bottleneck is people, specifically the shortage of developers who can hold a municipality, a pension fund, an environmental attorney, a lender, and an architect together long enough to break ground.

Nick started with a hammer, spending five years in a union carpentry apprenticeship before moving up through contracting into financing and community development. Today he runs Hudson Housing Lifestyle in Warwick, building on brownfield sites with union labor and long-term financing designed to keep working families where they already live. We get into the unglamorous, deal-by-deal work of actually assembling a project, and why that, not land, is where Westchester's housing math breaks down.

In This Episode
 (0:00) The headline housing story, and what it misses
 (1:30) Why the bottleneck is developers, not land or money
 (4:00) From union carpenter to community developer
 (8:00) Brownfields, union labor, and financing that keeps families in place
 (15:00) What it actually takes to break ground

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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For seven years, Westchester County homeowners could deduct only $10,000 of their state and local taxes. For 2026 that cap jumps to $40,400, a swing worth thousands of dollars a year for most households below the income phase-out. We explain how the new SALT cap works, why it expires in 2029, and how the Conley versus Lawler race in New York's 17th district will help decide its future.

In This Episode
(0:00) The deduction you lost in 2018, and the news most people missed
(0:20) How the $10,000 cap became $40,400, and the $505,000 phase-out
(1:45) What the change is worth at a Westchester kitchen table
(2:45) Cait Conley, Mike Lawler, and the 2029 clock
(3:30) What else is happening: the New York Blood Center's new Rye campus
(4:00) Close

Sources
SmartAsset and Anchin: the 2026 SALT cap and phase-out
News 12 Westchester: the NY-17 Democratic primary result

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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The Hendrick Hudson school district in the Town of Cortlandt, Westchester County faces a shortfall of more than $25 million for the coming year as the last of its Indian Point nuclear-plant revenue runs out. We break down how the district got here, and why an 8% tax hike or a savings raid are the only exits left.

In This Episode
(0:00) The promise of closing Indian Point, and the bill that came due
(0:20) How $25 million a year in plant payments fell to $3.3 million
(2:00) The 8% override vote, the $6.6 million reserve draw, and 52 lost positions
(3:00) Why every community with one giant taxpayer should watch this
(3:45) What else is happening: the county's new Affordability and Economic Development Task Force
(4:15) Close

Sources
Peekskill Herald and River Journal Online: Hendrick Hudson and the Indian Point revenue loss
Spectrum Local News: the district's budget shortfall

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Westchester County has the highest property taxes of any county in America — a typical bill near $10,000 a year. But the government everyone blames takes the smallest slice. This week on The Friday Intel, we break your property tax bill apart: how Westchester compares to the wealthiest suburbs in the country, how wildly the bill swings from Scarsdale to the rest of the county, and the one finding that should change who you pay attention to — schools take about 63 cents of every property tax dollar, while county government takes only about 16.

In This Episode:
- (0:00) Cold Open — the highest tax bill in the country
- (0:30) Intro and Context — decoding one lump number
- (1:30) The Data — the ranking, the peer comparison, the town-by-town spread
- (4:00) The Surprise — where your tax dollar actually goes
- (5:15) What This Means for You — your bill, home-shopping, and the new SALT cap
- (6:15) Close

Sources: Tax-Rates.org (Census-based county rankings); New York State Comptroller (property tax distribution); Ownwell (Scarsdale); Wiss (2026 SALT cap).

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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: [email protected]
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When Washington cuts food aid, the cost lands somewhere, and this month it landed in Westchester County. This episode examines two federal nutrition programs under pressure: WIC, which a House spending bill would fund $200 million below current levels while cutting its fruit-and-vegetable benefit 10%, and SNAP, whose lapsed funding hit local food providers immediately. County Executive Ken Jenkins opposed the WIC cuts and steered $50,000 to Feeding Westchester, a move that shows both the county's response and the limits of backfilling federal programs with local dollars.

In This Episode:
(0:00) When Washington cuts, the cost lands here
(1:00) WIC: what the House bill would do
(2:15) SNAP, and the county's $50,000 to Feeding Westchester
(3:15) The pattern: federal pullback, county budget pressure
(5:00) Quick hit: $122.5 million for 94 new Bee-Line buses

Sources: Westchester County ("Healthy Food is a Lifeline, Not a Luxury"); Black Westchester (county allocates $50,000 to Feeding Westchester); Food Research and Action Center (House WIC and SNAP cuts).

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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Dan D'Amico has knocked on nearly six thousand doors in Yonkers District 16. Not with a team. Largely by himself. What he's heard is not what the county is spending money on.

D'Amico is a former FDNY firefighter, a working real estate broker, and the Republican candidate challenging the incumbent for Westchester County Legislature District 16. In this conversation, he breaks down what affordability actually looks like when you're sitting across from a family trying to buy a home in Yonkers, why the county's $45 million EV charging station line item doesn't match a single conversation he's had at the doors, and what four years of inaction on Hurricane Ida flooding has cost his neighbors on Warburton Avenue.

He also walks through what a county legislator can actually do — and what they can't — so you know what you're voting for when November arrives.

In this episode: the broken math of homeownership in Westchester. The 18-month timeline to build a single home in New York versus six months in Florida. Why the county cut every department by 8% and raised taxes in the same budget. The fire victim in downtown Yonkers who got a housing voucher in one hour after weeks of getting nothing from his own legislator. And what D'Amico wants you thinking about when you're standing in the booth.

Subscribe to The Westchester Brief at iliveherewestchester.com. New episodes Monday through Friday at 6 AM.

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: [email protected]
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Playland, the county-owned amusement park in Rye, opened its 98th season this spring with the historic Dragon Coaster restored. But behind the nostalgia is a real governance question for Westchester County: after the private operator Standard Amusements exited its contract in January 2025, the county is running the park directly, and last season drew just over 213,000 visitors. This episode looks at how Playland ended up back in county hands, what it costs taxpayers to run an amusement park, and why this summer's attendance is the number that decides the park's future.

In This Episode:
(0:00) The most fun question in county government
(0:45) Playland's history and the Standard Amusements breakup
(2:30) A bumpy 2025: attendance and the closed Dragon Coaster
(3:30) Why a public amusement park is a financial risk
(5:00) Quick hit: the 2026 SALT deduction cap jumps to $40,400

Sources: Westchester County Parks (Playland 2026 season); Rye Record (county takes over Playland operations; 2025 season recap).

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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: [email protected]
Website: www.iliveheremedia.com
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