I Live Here Westchester NY

I Live Here Media
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“I Live Here” is a hyperlocal podcast that explores the stories, people, and events shaping life in Westchester, NY. Each episode dives into what’s happening across our towns and neighborhoods—highlighting small businesses, community voices, local culture, and can’t-miss happenings. Whether you’ve lived here forever or just moved in, this podcast keeps you connected to the place you call home.

  1. 1d ago

    School Readiness, Rebuilt | Katarina Soares & Kamila Omarova

    Send us Fan Mail In Irvington, two occupational therapists are asking Westchester County parents to rethink what "ready for kindergarten" actually means. Katarina Soares and Kamila Omarova, co-founders of Rooted Kids Inc., explain why regulation, coordination, and fine motor skills matter more than letters and numbers, and what's really happening to kids across the county before they ever reach a classroom. In This Episode  (0:00) The data behind Westchester's school readiness gap  (3:00) Meet Katarina Soares and Kamila Omarova, co-founders of Rooted Kids Inc.  (5:30) The moment that led to founding Rooted in Irvington  (9:00) What "regulation" looks like in a three-year-old, and the RISE method  (15:00) What's really driving the decline in kids' fine motor skills  (19:00) What parents can do at home before kindergarten  (23:00) The hard question: private readiness programs in a county where public early intervention is falling behind  (27:00) What Westchester parents should understand about readiness five years from now Guest & Resources  Rooted Kids Inc.: rootedkidsinc.org. I Live Here Westchester: iliveheremedia.com. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share this episode with a neighbor. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  2. 1d ago

    The Westchester Brief | 08.18.26: Who Gets Screened in Your School

    Send us Fan Mail Most parents in Westchester County assume the person serving lunch in a school cafeteria was screened differently than the person teaching math. Under New York State law, that assumption is wrong, and the rule is stronger than most people think. This episode walks through what Education Law section 305 subdivision 30, the SAVE Law, and Part 87 of the Commissioner's Regulations actually require: fingerprint clearance turns on employment longer than 5 days and direct contact with students under 21, not on job title. With more than 40 school districts in Westchester County and no county-level audit of district screening policy, the open question is application, not statute. In This Episode (0:00) The assumption most parents have, and why it's wrong (0:30) Education Law 305(30), Part 87, and the three-condition test (2:00) Why job title isn't in the rule (3:00) Where the real gap is: the 5-day threshold, agency staffing, and who audits (4:20) Assembly bill A8902 and what it would change (5:00) Three questions to ask your district in writing (5:50) Quick hit: Meadows of Briarcliff advances in Mount Pleasant Sources: New York State Education Department fingerprinting reference materials, updated July 15, 2026. NYSED field memorandum on required fingerprinting, September 25, 2024. New York State Senate bill tracker, A8902 and S8425. The Examiner News on the Mount Pleasant Planning Board vote. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or share this with a neighbor who has kids in a Westchester district. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  3. 2d ago

    The Westchester Brief | 08.17.26: Two Towns Rezone Their Dead Retail

    Send us Fan Mail Two Westchester County municipalities voted the same week to let empty retail space become something else. On August 5 the White Plains Common Council amended its zoning ordinance so roughly 90,000 square feet under the former Walmart at 275 Main Street can become self-storage. The same week, the Yorktown Town Board opened Jefferson Valley Mall to craft breweries, amusement centers, indoor recreation and trampoline parks. No member of the public spoke at the Yorktown hearing. This episode looks at what those two votes do to the commercial tax base, and why the difference lands on the residential roll. In This Episode (0:00) Two towns, one week, the same conclusion (0:20) White Plains: the 275 Main Street zoning amendment and the September 8 hearing (2:00) Yorktown: Jefferson Valley Mall and Supervisor Ed Lachterman on the record (2:45) Why a use change moves your tax bill (4:15) The counterargument for adaptive reuse (5:15) Quick hit: Harbor Island and Surf Club beaches closed for bacteria Sources: Westfair Communications, reporting by Peter Katz, on the White Plains zoning amendment. Yonkers Times, reporting by Dan Murphy, on the Yorktown Town Board vote. News 12 Westchester on the Mamaroneck and New Rochelle beach closures. Subscribe to the newsletter at www.iliveheremedia.com. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  4. 5d ago

    The Friday Intel | 08.14.26: 637 Prescriptions, 400 Deaths

    Send us Fan Mail New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act took effect August 5, making New York the 13th state to authorize the practice. This episode skips the ethics debate and looks at the data instead. In Oregon last year, doctors wrote 637 prescriptions and 400 people died from taking them, meaning more than 200 people completed every step of the process and then never used the medication. New Jersey's five-year record suggests the law will reach one or two Westchester County residents in its first year. And New York has deliberately declined to maintain any registry of participating providers, which means a terminally ill Westchester family has no list to look up and no referral line to call. In This Episode (0:00) Cold open, a law with no directory (0:30) Intro and context, what took effect August 5 (1:30) The Data, the eligibility rules, the self-administration requirement, and the missing registry (3:30) The Surprise, 637 prescriptions, 400 deaths, and what that gap means (4:30) What This Means For You, who to ask and the Hawthorne case (5:00) Close Sources NYS Department of Health, Medical Aid in Dying law announcement and FAQ, August 5, 2026 Oregon Health Authority, 2025 Death with Dignity Act report, April 2, 2026 New Jersey Monitor, August 28, 2024 Spectrum News, August 5, 2026 America Magazine, July 31, 2026 Courthouse News Service, August 5, 2026 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share with a neighbor. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  5. 6d ago

    The Westchester Brief | 08.13.26: 4 Million Gallons. Or 16,290.

    Send us Fan Mail On August 3 the Mamaroneck Sanitary Sewer District plant discharged into Long Island Sound. New York's first public report said 4 million gallons. The correction filed the next day said 16,290, a factor of 245 inside the notification system residents rely on to decide whether it is safe to swim, boat or fish. It was the second Westchester County plant discharge in five weeks, and it happened in one of the four sewer districts covered by the county's decade long Clean Water Act settlement with Save the Sound. In This Episode (0:00) Cold open, two plants, five weeks, one number that was wrong (0:20) Deep dive, the Yonkers failure, the Mamaroneck discharge, and the Save the Sound settlement (4:00) What else is happening, tonight's Bee-Line student fare hearing (4:35) Close Sources MyRye.com, Mamaroneck wastewater treatment plant sewage release, August 3 and 4, 2026 Yonkers Times, Yonkers wastewater treatment plant power failure, July 12, 2026 Save the Sound, Westchester County agreement ending Clean Water Act lawsuit, July 16, 2025 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share the show with a neighbor. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  6. Aug 12

    The Westchester Brief | 08.12.26: The $18M Everyone Calls a Subsidy

    Send us Fan Mail New York State's first Housing Acceleration Fund project closed on financing in Westchester County, at North White Plains, directly across from the Metro-North station. It is $178 million, 296 apartments, 30 of them affordable. This episode goes through the capital stack line by line and corrects the error most coverage will make: the $18 million in state money is not a grant, it is a loan repaid at 3% interest when the building is finished. In This Episode (0:00) Cold open, the number everyone is about to get wrong (0:20) Deep dive, the capital stack, the AMI bands, and why a loan changes the argument (3:50) What else is happening, New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act takes effect (4:20) Close Sources New York State Homes and Community Renewal, first Housing Acceleration Fund project in Westchester County, July 30, 2026 New York State Department of Health, Medical Aid in Dying law takes effect, August 5, 2026 Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveherewestchester.com. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  7. Aug 11

    The Westchester Brief | 08.11.26: The Hearing Almost Nobody Knows About

    Send us Fan Mail Westchester County is proposing to expand the Bee-Line student fare benefit to four trips a day, seven days a week, with a card valid for 12 months instead of just the school year. The public hearing is Thursday, August 13 at 5:30 p.m. This episode explains what the change would actually do for a family, what it collides with in a $2.5 billion county budget that cut nearly every department by 8%, and the specific questions worth asking before the vote. In This Episode (0:00) Cold open, a hearing with an outsized constituency (0:20) Deep dive, four trips a day, the OMNY transition, and what the fiscal note has to answer (4:00) What else is happening, Housing Flex Fund II applications close August 21 (4:35) Close Sources Westchester County, public hearing on proposed Bee-Line student fare adjustments Westchester County 2026 adopted budget Yonkers Times, Westchester County launches $25 million Housing Flex Fund II, June 15, 2026 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share the show with a neighbor. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

  8. Aug 10

    The Westchester Brief | 08.10.26: $30M in County Funding, One Condition

    Send us Fan Mail More than $30 million in federal FEMA and Homeland Security funding for Westchester County is now conditioned on changes to New York State election law. This episode separates what is actually in the court record from what is the county's own claim, and explains what these grants pay for on the ground: interoperable emergency radios, planning staff and drills, and flood mitigation work in a county that has taken repeated storm damage. In This Episode (0:00) Cold open, a condition Westchester cannot meet on its own (0:20) Deep dive, the DHS and FEMA grant conditions, the 25 state lawsuit, and the Jenkins letter (4:10) What else is happening, the $39.7 million I-95 project between Mamaroneck and Rye (4:45) Close Sources CBS News, 25 states sue FEMA and DHS over grant conditions, July 23, 2026 Rye Record, Westchester County calls on Congress to oppose the restrictions, July 31, 2026 Governor Kathy Hochul's office, start of the $39.7 million I-95 pavement project, June 4, 2026 Subscribe to the newsletter at iliveherewestchester.com. 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: jimjockle@iliveheremedia.com Website: www.iliveheremedia.com Follow us on Instagram: @iliveheremedia Subscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

“I Live Here” is a hyperlocal podcast that explores the stories, people, and events shaping life in Westchester, NY. Each episode dives into what’s happening across our towns and neighborhoods—highlighting small businesses, community voices, local culture, and can’t-miss happenings. Whether you’ve lived here forever or just moved in, this podcast keeps you connected to the place you call home.

Information

  • Creator
    I Live Here Media
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    172
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 I Live Here Westchester NY
  • Show Website
    I Live Here Westchester NY

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