As soon as poll sites opened their doors on Saturday, there were some voters eager to get the job done.

“Come early and there’s no line. I just walked right in,” Brooklyn voter Shulie Seidler-Feller said.

This is the first time New Yorkers have been able to vote early in a local general election. There are 106 locations all over the five boroughs.


What You Need To Know

  • More than 15,000 New Yorkers went to the polls on the first day of early voting

  • This is the first time New Yorkers can vote early in a local general election

  • Democrat Eric Adams is facing Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race for mayor

  • Early voting ends Sunday, Oct. 31, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2

“Get it over with, you know, so I have more time to do other things,” Carlton Richards, also a Brooklyn voter, explained. 

“It’s more convenient, instead of having it be on the Tuesday, you know, it gives you more time. And I think it gives people more chance to vote,” Braulio Aguirre, another voter, added. 

New York voters are electing every member of the City Council, borough presidents, the city comptroller, the public advocate and the next mayor of New York City. 

The Democratic nominee for that office, Eric Adams, held a rally with supporters in Chinatown, encouraging them to vote in an election expected to have low turnout. The outgoing Brooklyn borough president is highly favored to win this race.

Mayoral candidate Eric Adams. (NY1/Juan Manuel Benítez)

“There’s something from the days that my mother took me in to vote with her. I just enjoy walking in on Election Day," Adams said. "I’m going to do that with my son, and I’ll be voting on Election Day, but I’m encouraging people to vote early if they want, just vote, that’s what’s important."

Hours earlier, his Republican challenger, Curtis Sliwa, accompanied his wife Nancy to their early voting location on the Upper West Side. She’s also a candidate, but for City Council.

They arrived with one of their many rescue cats.

“I’m feeling real good, because clearly I’m getting under Eric Adams’ skin," Sliwa said. "I mean, this guy is vitriolic against me. He’s called me every name in the book. None of it sticks."

New Yorkers who want to vote early should check their closest poll site and opening hours at findmypollsite.vote.nyc. Early voting ends next week on Sunday, Oct. 31, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.