Nearly 200,000 voters at 89 polling places across the city have been assigned to new locations since the general election last year, according to the city Board of Elections and a WNYC analysis of polling locations across the city.
The number represents about 7 percent of the city's 1,231 polling locations and 4 percent of the city's 4,982,173 million voters, so most New York City voters won't be affected.
But certain neighborhoods have several different new polling locations, and residents in those areas may be more likely to find their site has been moved around the corner or several blocks away since the vote for mayor in 2017. Those areas include Coop-City in the Bronx, parts of Bensonhurst and Bath Beach in Brooklyn, Corona and Elmhurst in Queens and parts of eastern Manhattan, according to WNYC's review of the Board of Elections poll site list for the general election on Nov. 2.
All voters should have received a letter with their polling site location, and the 195,000 New Yorkers who are supposed to go to a new location got a special notice, according to Michael Ryan, the executive director of the New York City Board of Elections.
"If your poll site has changed, there’s a red banner right on the face of your notice to try to get your attention to say, 'Wait a second, this particular one is more important than the one that you usually get,' " Ryan said.
Most of the changes occurred last year, so if you voted in either primary this year, that's most likely the place to head on Nov. 6, barring emergency circumstances. But there are still 900,000 voters who aren't registered with a particular party and couldn't vote in a primary, and an additional 167,000 people registered with minor parties that didn't hold primaries, all of whom would be heading to their polling sites for the first time since last year.
Polling places can shift for a number of reasons, ranging from physical damage to the building, accessibility issues, or if it's not owned by the city, the owner can decide they no longer want to participate, a board spokeswoman said. However, many of the changes that took place since last year not because the building changed, but rather that voters from one existing polling place were shifted to another location.
Asked why voters were shifted between existing polling locations, Valerie Vazquez-Diaz, a spokeswoman for the Board of Elections declined to comment until after the election, when a further analysis can be conducted by their staff.
Last year, WNYC reported that about 20 percent of polling sites changed between the 2016 and 2017 elections. This year is an improvement, but we've identified several hot spots where multiple changes in polling sights could cause confusion among voters come Nov. 6.
Co-op City, Bronx
Voters in around 30 electoral districts in the Co-op City area will have new polling sites compared to last year. Some but not all voters who cast their ballots at several Co-op City Community Centers and P.S./M.S. 194 will have new polling sites at locations including Truman High School, Council Towers, PS 160 and PS 119.
Bath Beach and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Voters in 12 Southern Brooklyn electoral districts that cast ballots at Saint Finbar Catholic Church, Haym Salomon Home or I.S. 96 will have a new place to vote. There are new polling locations at Il Centro Italian-American Cultural Center, Kings Adult Center and P.S. 682.
Corona, Elmhurst and Rego Park, Queens
People who voted at P.S. 13 Clement C Moore, the High School for Arts & Business, P.S. 206 Horace Harding School or the Corona Congregational Church should double-check their polling sites. Some voters have been reassigned to a site at the LeFrack City Apartments, Queens Library in Lefrack City, Fairview P.S. 14 and the Florence E Smith Community Center. About 11 electoral districts are impacted.
Gramercy, Midtown East, Stuy-Town and Kips Bay, Manhattan
For those voters who cast ballots at polling sites Stuyvesant Town V, Baruch College Newman Hall, PS 47, Peter Cooper Village, Renwick Gardens, High School of Art and Design, Baruch College Vert campus and Recreation Center 54 may have new polling places. Voters will instead head to sites at the Cabrini Houses, the Clinton School for Writers and Artists, PS 47, The American Sign Language And English Secondary School and Vanderbilt YMCA.
You can double-check your polling place at WNYC's election guide.