Excited and unnerved: New Yorkers flood the polls on US Election Day

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New York City, US – As the prima roseate implicit the 5 boroughs of New York City connected Tuesday morning, a definite unspoken unease permeated the crisp autumn air.

New Yorkers — some supporters of erstwhile President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — flooded polling places aboriginal connected November 5 arsenic voters successful the United States began to duke it retired astatine the ballot box.

For some, it was a accidental to dismantle the presumption quo. For many, it was the predetermination of a lifetime.

New York City is simply a Democratic stronghold. In 2020, it voted overwhelmingly against Trump, helping to present existent President Joe Biden a captious predetermination victory.

But each of the 5 boroughs has its ain personality, and the pockets of voters that marque up New York City overgarment a overmuch much analyzable representation of this year’s statesmanlike race.

In the blue-collar neighbourhood of Ridgewood, portion of the westernmost borough of Queens, 36-year-old hairstylist Adrianne Kuss expressed anxiousness astir the election’s eventual outcome.

“I consciousness nervous,” Kuss told Al Jazeera moments aft casting her ballot for Harris connected Tuesday morning. “Nobody should beryllium connected the fence… Too galore things are astatine stake.”

Sporting pinkish hairsbreadth with matching pinkish sunglasses, cargo pants and boots, Kuss added that the imaginable of different Trump presidency frightened her.

The Republican campaigner has pledged to beryllium a dictator “for time one” if re-elected connected Tuesday. Kuss besides pointed retired that Trump has made galore anti-transgender and anti-immigrant comments.

“As a German American, I got this happening astir fascism,” Kuss explained.

“I’m acrophobic astir his racism, astir his misogyny. But also, helium is aged and senile and retired of touch. He’s not idiosyncratic who represents New Yorkers. I mean, honestly, he’s this silver-spoon idiot.”

She pointed to the events of January 6, 2021, arsenic fuelling her fears. On that day, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to disrupt the certification of the 2020 predetermination aft Trump repeatedly called the results a fraud.

“I don’t privation this cultish mob rearing its disfigured caput again,” Kuss explained. “That was perfectly terrifying. In 2020, erstwhile the insurrection happened, people’s lives were virtually astatine risk. I don’t privation to spot that again.”

Queens, however, is Trump’s location borough: He was calved and raised successful the area, and his family’s existent property concern was anchored there.

Traditionally, the borough turns retired a higher proportionality of voters — specifically achromatic voters — for the erstwhile president and existent property billionaire than different pockets of the city.

In 2020, for instance, Trump carried implicit 26 percent of the ballot successful Queens, a higher fig than successful Brooklyn, Manhattan oregon the Bronx but little than successful Staten Island.

The Republican continues to person sway successful areas of Queens similar Ridgewood, a working-class, blue-collar neighbourhood wherever galore Polish, German and Albanian voters live.

Retired Queens teacher Alice Kokasch, 83, is 1 of Trump’s supporters. Kokasch, who voted for the Republican person successful 2016 and 2020, said she had nary qualms astir sending Trump backmost to the Oval Office — contempt his 34 felony convictions past May.

“He didn’t bash thing that bad,” Kokasch told Al Jazeera extracurricular Public School 88, wherever she taught and went to school. It had been transformed into a polling tract for Tuesday’s race.

Kokasch said that, immoderate Trump’s idiosyncratic failings, they were nary dealbreaker. “He’s not perfect, but who is, right?”

Brian, a 28-year-old Latino migrant successful Queens, besides voted for Trump. Likewise, helium was unfazed by Trump’s scandals and transgression history: Last year, the Republican person became the archetypal US president ever to look transgression charges.

“Honestly, it doesn’t fuss me,” Brian, who besides declined to springiness his sanction retired of fearfulness of retribution, told Al Jazeera.

“Nobody’s perfect, and I conscionable look much towards what tin helium bash for his state alternatively than his anterior felony cases. I bash admit that that did happen. And, of course, that’s not a bully look connected anybody. But, you know, nobody’s perfect.”

For Brian, a lawsuit work worker, Trump’s economical grounds was a mighty propulsion astatine the ballot box.

“I judge he’s the close campaigner for us,” Brian said. “While helium was successful power, I felt similar the system was connected the close track.”

Still, Brian acknowledged that Trump whitethorn not judge the predetermination results if Harris inches up of him successful the choky statesmanlike race.

“Most apt not,” Brian said with a chuckle. “I cognize helium won’t accept.”

Another elector successful Queens, David, a 30-year-old operation idiosyncratic with a mild European accent, besides voted for Trump connected Tuesday alongside his father. He declined to springiness his past sanction retired of fearfulness his governmental leanings could impact the household business.

Like galore Trump supporters, helium cited the precocious ostentation nether outgoing President Joe Biden arsenic a information for his vote.

“The economy’s going to sh**,” David said. “Everything is up. Inflation is astatine an all-time high. I deliberation it’s clip to drain the swamp. What much tin I say?”

With wars ongoing successful Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, helium besides expressed fears that the US could beryllium dragged into a caller struggle nether further Democratic leadership.

“Countless wars…,” David said, trailing off. “They privation our troops to spell retired determination and termination portion they’re eating determination successful Washington, DC, eating steak dinners.”

For him, a Harris triumph was inconceivable — and helium echoed the unfounded predetermination fraud claims that Trump has dispersed up of Tuesday’s election, seeking to undermine a imaginable Democratic victory.

“There’s a batch of spooky worldly going on,” David told Al Jazeera, citing a conspiracy mentation that thousands of ballots had been hijacked disconnected an 18-wheeler successful Pennsylvania. “I’m not accepting the results.”

South of Queens, successful the much left-leaning borough of Brooklyn, nationalist sentiment was somewhat different.

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a pistillate walking her canine and toting a yoga mat hugged a person arsenic the brace lined up to participate a polling presumption connected North 5th Street.

Nearby, Brooklyn creator James Kennedy, 46, who wore a tie-dye chapeau with a bluish Kamala pin, posed for a selfie. He told Al Jazeera helium was feeling the value of the moment.

“[I feel] beauteous nervous,” Kennedy said. “I don’t know, man. It’s tough. I conscionable privation we could each conscionable get on again, you know? But I don’t cognize if it’s going to happen, but we’ll see. I conscionable anticipation positivity wins implicit negativity.”

The divisive statesmanlike cycles of the past decennary had near him feeling depleted, helium explained. Nevertheless, Kennedy, a longtime registered Democrat, said his prime was clear: He would ballot for Harris. There was nary mode helium could enactment Trump’s behaviour and policies.

“The mode this antheral acts, it’s conscionable unpresidential,” the creator said of Trump.

Kennedy, particularly, had been troubled by the undoing of Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court determination that had antecedently protected the close to termination access.

Trump has boasted connected the run way that it was the judges helium appointed to the tribunal that made Roe’s demise possible. In 2022, aft Roe was overturned, galore states took the accidental to instrumentality restrictions connected termination rights — if not prohibition the process entirely.

Kennedy fears further draconian laws could beryllium imposed if Republicans prehend the White House again.

“I deliberation that’s conscionable truly what’s truthful important close now,” helium added. “But I conscionable deliberation it’s ridiculous that we adjacent person to person [that conversation].”

Across the water, successful the land borough of Manhattan, polling sites successful the Harlem neighbourhood drew scores of chiefly African American voters.

Many were anxious to formed votes for Vice President Harris, who would beryllium the archetypal Black pistillate elected to the White House if palmy successful Tuesday’s race.

One polling tract astatine EM Moore Public Housing drew 98-year-old lifelong Harlem nonmigratory Eula Dalton, who walked arm-in-arm with her daughter, Rose Dalton, to the polls.

“It was beautiful,” Eula Dalton said of this year’s voting process.

Both parent and girl likened the infinitesimal to Barack Obama’s stunning 2008 statesmanlike win. Obama became the archetypal non-white idiosyncratic ever to pb the country.

Rose, a tribunal reporter, travelled from Connecticut to guarantee her mother, who struggles with aboriginal onset dementia, could workout her close to vote.

“I knew I wanted to bring her,” Rose said, explaining that it was hard for Eula to ballot without assistance. “She’s been inactive since Obama, I believe, because, you know, backmost then, she was astir apt 16 years younger. She was much aware.”

But the Election Day vigor successful Harlem was “awesome”, Rose said, calling it a monumental infinitesimal successful American politics. She predicted Harris would triumph successful a “landslide”.

“Boy, let’s hold till tonight,” she said. “We cognize it’s historic. It’s precise historic.”

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