The city of evil is not in the 19th district yet. The November election will be the redrawn district including Ithaca. Tuesday's election was to fill the vacant seat until the new members are sworn in in January.
Add in something about only being allowed to be in session for 3 months in a year and 6 continuous months in any two years.
IIRC reading about a conversation Madison had at the constitutional convention about setting the sessions for Congress. He argued that some years that may be no business for them to meet.