NYC voters head to the polls on Election Day: Live Updates

The polls are open across New York City for this year’s general election, which will decide who will be among those crafting laws for the five boroughs, make decisions on the bench, prosecute cases and whether to give small municipalities the power to increase their debt.

But while all 51 members of the City Council are on the ballot – the result of decennial changes to the city’s legislative boundaries – only a handful of races are truly competitive. Those races include two contests in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx and another in Queens. The election will largely decide whether Republicans can maintain the streak of gains they’ve made these past few elections in an otherwise progressive part of New York.

GET UP TO SPEED BEFORE HEADING TO THE VOTING BOOTH:

• Take a look at the Daily News’ handy election guide here.
• There’s also a guide to this year’s judicial races here.
• Check out your assigned poll site and sample ballot here.
• Voters are reminded to flip their ballot to answer the two statewide questions.

Polls will stay open until 9 p.m., though if voters can still cast a ballot past 9 p.m. so long as they got on line at their poll site before closing time. With voter turnout so low in this off-year election, hitting the voting booth is expected to be a breeze.

But should voters hit any snags at a poll site – disability accommodations weren’t met, being scared off the voting line, for instance (other examples can be found here) – they can reach out by phone to the New York Attorney General’s election hotline at (866) 390-2992 or online here.

Election night parties getting started across NYC

8:40 p.m.: As the close of polls approached, jaunty yacht rock played at Councilwoman Vickie Paladino’s election party, held in her campaign office at the sprawling Bay Terrace Shopping Center.

Two tall towers of red, white and blue balloons stood astride a lectern set up for a speech for Paladino as scattered supporters chatted and watched a screen set to NY1 inside the campaign office. Boxes of Grimaldi’s pizza sat beneath the TV.

Across the Long Island Sound, turnout will likely be the key to victory for whoever wins out in the race for the 13th Council District in the Bronx. And if Bill Russell, who was nursing a drink at Brewski’s Bar and Grill, is any indication of Republican enthusiasm for the contest, things aren’t looking so good for Kristy Marmorato, the GOP candidate facing off against Democratic incumbent Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez.

The patrons at the blue collar Brewski’s, Marmorato’s selection for her election night watch party, appeared more concerned with sports trivia night and the games playing on about a dozen screens than they did about the election, which will determine who represents them.

Russell, 68, was one of them. Minutes before Marmorato’s party began, Russell, a Republican who’s lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, conceded he hadn’t voted and didn’t intend to before polls close at 9 pm.

While neither candidate rang a bell with him, one of the issues raised by the candidates — public safety — did resonate with him.

“There’s been a lot of break-ins of cars — that’s the biggest issue,” he said.

Also — side streets aren’t plowed quickly enough and people who ride scooters pose a danger to the public, he groused — and not enough is being done about any of it.

Whether the current councilwoman, Marjorie Velázquez, bears any responsibility for those conditions — that, Russell said he is uncertain of. But one thing he is sure about: he’s not a fan of Mayor Adams.

“I think the city is in bad shape,” he said.

Mostly press at Justin Brannan’s election night party at moment at Bay Ridge’s Firefly, a dimlit bar and pizzeria, along with a few campaign staffers who have signs with Brannan’s name on it laying in stacks. Soft jazz playing on bar’s speaker system. Cameras are setting up in a backroom where there’s a stage with a microphone where brannan is going to deliver speech later.

Lackluster turnout on Election Day across NYC, board of elections numbers show

6:40 p.m.: Millions of registered New York City voters opted to stay home this Election Day, as figures from the city Board of Elections showed turnout was low despite nine days of early voting.

With no citywide race to draw voters out, a total of 444,511 voters personally hit the polls between the day early voting began on Oct. 28 and Election Day as of 6 p.m., according to the city Board of Elections. That ranks out to be 8.6% of the 5.1 million active registered voters within New York City, according to voter enrollment data. While the BOE sent out 83,674 ballots across the city with 30,497 considered valid.

While Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens boasted turnout numbers in the low six figures, the number of people casting ballots in the Bronx and Staten Island remained in the five figures.

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Early afternoon voters cast ballots for heated Queens Council race

4:42 p.m.: Several voters at J.H.S. 185 Edward Bleeker in Queens told the Daily News they were somewhat split in the contentious race between incumbent Councilwoman Vickie Paladino and her Democratic rival Avella — who previously represented the area. Many cited concerns about crime, despite overall crime being on a downward trend throughout the year.

“I think the City Council in general has just gotten off track,” said Ron, 82, a psychotherapist and self-described fan of broken windows policing. “They call it progressive, but I call it regressive.”

Ron cast his ballot for Paladino but said he’d voted for Avella in the past and that he seems “like a good guy.”

Retiree Kavita Thawani, 76, said she thinks both candidates are “equally nice” but that she voted for Avella because she knows him better.

“I was just waiting for five minutes [figuring out] what to do because both are equally good,” she said.

Han, 32, works in construction and noted he was among the younger voters at the site, but said he wanted to do his part. He cited a perceived increase in crime in his support for Paladino.

“This is a big blue state for years and I just want to see something different going on,” he said. “There’s no perfect politician.”

Paladino stopped by the northeast Queens school on Tuesday afternoon to thank poll workers at the site, greeting locals with a friendly smile that belied her many controversies.

One of the Council’s most conservative members, Paladino represents the 19th Council District, which includes Bayside, College Point, Flushing and Whitestone. Pro-Trump Paladino defeated Avella two years ago by just a few hundred votes. The race is predicted to be similarly competitive this year.

Paladino told the News she believes New York Republicans are well placed this election.

“I think the state of politics are that people are waking up to exactly what’s going on. And I think they’re opening up their minds to seeing other sides of things,” she said, namely “everyday quality of life” issues and “unrealistic laws,” though she did not specify exactly what she meant.

Paladino keeps ear to the ground over faulty machines in Queens district, despite the contrary by BOE

2:07 p.m.: Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino — who’s facing a challenge to her left from moderate Democrat Tony Avella — has reported glitchy voting machines in the Queens district she represents.

Paladino took to X on Tuesday, letting followers know that several machines experienced technical issues but are now up and running. She cautioned voters not to vote using an affidavit ballot should a poll worker make the recommendation.

“If you are offered an affidavit ballot, decline and tell the poll worker you will return later,” Paladino said.

A city Board of Elections spokesperson, however, said there were no glitches at the machines Paladino had mentioned.

“We had our top BOE officials in Queens on site,” the spokesman said. “An administrative error with signage was the concern – not technologically and/or voter based.”

What political observers are looking for this election season

11:41 a.m.: With results expected hours from now– political consultants who spoke with the Daily News

Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political strategist, said the race for Brooklyn’s 47th Council District race will determine whether the “emergence of the Arab community in Brooklyn will have an impact on the race” long term.

“Is this their moment? Every group has its moment, right?” said Sheinkopf.

Sheinkopf also said it’s unlikely Councilwoman Inna Vernikov’s arrest for carrying a concealed firearm at a pro-Palestine rally in Brooklyn will matter in her race against Democratic challenger Amber Adler.

“What that tells you is that the population in that part of the city has also shifted,” Sheinkopf said.

John DeSio, a Democratic communications strategists, will look at whether the city’s ongoing migrant crisis will attract more Republicans than Democrats to the poll site.

“If the Republicans win these these handful of contested City Council races, they will say we won because people are fed up about the migrant crisis, city services being affected,” DeSio said.

With Republicans in lockstep over the migrant crisis, the question of whether a misalignment on issues and infighting among Democrats can fend off any serious challengers from the right is top of mind of mind for Gabe Tobias, a progressive Democratic strategist.

“[The Democratic Party] is in such disarray, despite what was supposed to be [this] real wake-up call of the 2021 and 2022 elections, where you had these moves to the right in different parts of the city, and you had Democrats not doing as well, not being able to turn out as many votes as they should be able to win 2021 elections and then losing statewide in 20 places in 2022 elections,” Tobias said. “Despite all those wake-up calls there’s a place where there’s just a vacuum of leadership. You look at what’s happening with the Brooklyn Democratic Party — just collapsing it and not able to do really anything at all except fight internally.”

Basil Smikle, director of the public policy program at Hunter College, said he’ll be watching whether backlash on citywide issues will be to the benefit of GOP candidates.

“There has been some dialogue lately around the city moving a little bit more to the right, and I wonder if, at the end of all of this, if the Republicans in those districts win, can we look back on it and talk about the effect that the migrant crisis has had, or some other trends, whether it’s crime, or taxation, and the economy,” Smikle said.

Battleground Bay Ridge sees registered voters trickling in to poll sites

10:55 a.m.: It may be the battleground for the most contentious City Council race of the year, but the streets of Bay Ridge were quiet as voters trickled in and out of a middle school polling site Tuesday morning.

Thanks to redistricting the area is now up for grabs between moderate Democrat Councilmember Justin Brannan and Democrat-turned-Republican Ari Kagan. The contest is being closely watched across the city as a test of which way the political winds are blowing in Southern Brooklyn.

Mary Zhang, 33, cast her ballot for Brannan but said she didn’t know many others who planned on showing up.

“The small off-year local elections are important too,” said Zhang, who works as a care manager. “Do your part. It takes five minutes.”

Even without a big-ticket presidential or mayoral race, Gina Davis, a 70-year-old resident living in Bay Ridge for 13 years, said this year is “is a major election year for our community.”

“I’ve never known who my councilman was until Justin Brannan sort of appeared on the scene,” she said, adding that she was alienated by Ari Kagan’s “nasty, aggressive, angry campaign” and “incendiary” flyers.

But educator Allison, 39, said she generally leans conservative and voted for Kagan, citing concerns about crime.

PHOTOS: New Yorkers head to the polls for Election Day 2023

“I feel like New York City is really going in the wrong direction … and I feel like there needs to be a change,” she said.

She was undeterred by Kagan’s switch from Democrat to Republican, saying her politics had similarly shifted.

“You should always vote, you should always have your voice heard,” Allison said. “It’s your right as a citizen.”

Just under 3% of voters have turned out to the polls so far

9:44 a.m.: The city Board of Elections says that so far 132,000 people cast ballots for this election when lumping in those numbers with the nine-day early voting period. That ranks out to just under 3% of the total number of active registered voters compiled by the state Board of Elections.

Brooklyn has so far seen the most action, with close to 39,000 New Yorkers casting ballots. That ranks out to be 2.6% of registered voters so far. Brooklynites registered in the 47th Council District are being asked to vote in one of the more hotly contested races between Councilmen Justin Brannan and Ari Kagan. With no competitive races in Staten Island, the borough so far has the lowest voter turnout with just over 7,500 people turning out to the polls. That ranks out to be 2.4% of the total number of active registered voters on the island.

8:11 a.m. Mayor Adams, who’s not on the ballot in this year’s elections, will keep a low public profile on Election Day, veering off tradition where mayors vote on Election Day and instead made his ballot decisions during the early voting period.

Adams — who has voted during Election Day — has avoided speaking with reporters since the FBI raided the home of his 2021 campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs.

Shortly after voting on Sunday, Adams took to Twitter/X to call voting, “Probably one of the most significant important things we can do.”

See this and more of the latest New York political coverage this NYC Election season

Adams has made two endorsements so far in this election. One for Councilman Justin Brannan, who faces a fierce election against fellow incumbent Ari Kagan, and the other for Councilman Keith Powers.

While Brannan is expected to vote at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Kagan already cast his ballot, posting a photo on X showing off the city Board of Elections sticker showing he voted.

“Just voted in Gravesend,” Kagan said on X. “God Bless America!”

Brannan, meantime, voted alongside his wife at his local poll site Tuesday morning.