New Yorkers who wanted Democratic success are very disappointed with the outcome.
New York wakes up ringing the bell. The dream, in this democratic stronghold, of seeing a blue wave surge across the country flew in the early morning after a mad and endless night of anguish and uncertainty without the name of the winner being announced. Better. To add to the confusion, each candidate went from his verse, Donald Trump going so far as to declare that he considered having “won“ while asking thestop counting votes.
“Today, I am worried because it is again the fight and we never end”
In his little coffee-shop on Fulton Street, south of Manhattan, his eyes riveted on his TV screen, Mickaël struggles with his coffee machine and his take-out omelets. It’s rush hour in this neighborhood near Wall Street even if many businesses have gone out of business. “I went to bed at 2 o’clock, I couldn’t take it anymore, activates, behind his mask, this 48-year-old former IT developer. I have avoided talking too much politics with clients since 2016, but personally I was sure Biden was going to win and hands down. Today I am worried because it’s a fight again and we never end“.
The beautiful morning blue sky, which has chased away the cold of recent days, nevertheless gives again confidence to Anna-Maria who is preparing, in her pretty red coat, a large coffee in hand, to join the bank where she has worked for eleven years. “The night was long and with my husband, we slept very little but we remain convinced that Joe Biden will win and we believe it “, assures this fervent democrat with a broad smile.
The only consolation, if any, for New Yorkers loyal to the liberal camp since 1984, the victory of their aspirant acquired, as of Tuesday evening, against his much feared opponent and native of the state, Donald Trump. Astonishing detail. The real estate giant, which has always aspired to win New York, garners 3.5% more votes compared to 2016, posting a score of 40% against Joe Biden, who is doing a little worse than Hillary Clinton by winning 58% of the vote.
But New York is not America and the fight that lasted until dawn, continues to rage, minute after minute in a climate of extreme tension. “What to do, apart from expect, joking despite its nervousness, Robert, 28 years old, his hard hat on his head, at the foot of a building under construction near the World Trade Center. I won’t say who I voted for, it’s a secret but all I want no matter who wins is that he takes care of us and our people in the neighborhoods“.
I am gay and I vote Trump. He is our savior and our hero. He is fighting socialism and he is going to win.
John, a 50-year-old bartender in New Jersey, yelled in front of an army of police and reporters, his red “With Trump” sign at arm’s length. “If Biden wins, we will quickly feel depressed”, commented more calmly, at his side, his friend, Block, designer of 43 years, but just as stressed.
Fifteen minutes on the subway away, and quite unexpectedly, hundreds of people joined Times Square, traditionally a party place during election evenings. But pandemic obliges and more still, given the stake of the evening, needless to say that the atmosphere was not there. In a dead silence only interrupted by a ballet of helicopters, couples, friends, families are there frozen in the middle of illuminated signs, their eyes raised towards giant television screens, watching for the slightest result.
At the news of Donald Trump’s victory in Florida, Josh, a math teacher in his forties, bowed his head in distress. “If he’s the one who wins, I won’t go to work cheerfully tomorrow morning”, he breathes behind his mask. By his side, Monique, 43, of Puerto Rican origin, living in a hostel with Ashley, her 20-year-old daughter. “I hope it will be Donald Trump. My life is difficult, she recounts. I lost my mother at the age of 3 but I want to get out of the democratic system in which I found myself from birth and I know that Donald Trump, if he is re-elected, can help me in that “.
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