For the first time, New York voters will be able to vote at designated polling sites in advance of Election Day. So how does this work?

From the NY State League of Women Voters:

WHAT DOES EARLY VOTING DO?
Early voting allows you to vote in person at a poll site within your county for nine (9) days, beginning Saturday, October 26 and continuing through Sunday, November 3. You do not need to have a reason or excuse to vote early. 

The poll sites for early voting will not necessarily be your usual poll site location. Each county will determine where the poll sites for early voting will be and the hours each site will be open for voting. Some counties will assign you to a specific poll site during early voting days and other counties will allow you to go to any poll site within the county to vote early. Each county can make this decision and you can see on the county Board of Elections (BOE) website or the New York State League’s website  where you can vote in your county. A county is required to have one (1) poll site for every fifty thousand (50,000) registered voters, though some counties may have more.

Look Up Your County's Early Voting Locations and Hours on the LWV NY Website

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ELECTION DAY?

If you choose to not make use of early voting you can still vote at your usual polling site on Election Day (Tuesday, November 5). Make sure your workplace is following the law to give employees time off to vote!

New York State Election Law

§ 3-110. Time allowed employees to vote. 1. A registered voter may, without loss of pay for up to three hours, take off so much working time as will enable him or her to vote at any election.

2. The employee shall be allowed time off for voting only at the beginning or end of his or her working shift, as the employer may designate, unless otherwise mutually agreed.

3. If the employee requires working time off to vote the employee shall notify his or her employer not less than two working days before the day of the election that he or she requires time off to vote in accordance with the provisions of this section.

4. Not less than ten working days before every election, every employer shall post conspicuously in the place of work where it can be seen as employees come or go to their place of work, a notice setting forth the provisions of this section. Such notice shall be kept posted until the close of the polls on election day.