(AFP) – It was theoretically a work day like any other, but in New York some commuters shed visible tears as others solemnly gathered with friends and neighbors. Across America’s cultural and financial capital, residents confronted the presidential victory of Donald Trump, a man often detested in the city from which he hails.
Teeka Jones walked to school on Wednesday in Brooklyn with her 10-year-old son as he explained to her he was feeling “worried.” “I broke the news to him this morning,” the 34-year-old special education teacher told AFP. “I let him know that all the states make the big decision, but our state made the right decision.” Republican Trump posted a sweeping victory nationwide, but in New York City took approximately 30.5 percent of the vote to Democrat Kamala Harris’s 67.7 percent.
As a teacher and a Black woman, Jones said she feels “horrible, because I can only imagine what’s to come.” Freddy Lane, a 29-year-old software developer, said Trump’s win was fueled by “apathy” and “hate.” “I feel as if the people who were kind of passive about how they feel about minorities and marginalized people are going to feel justified,” he said. Trump, a Queens native who took over his father’s real estate business and embraced a brash mogul image, was a prominent New Yorker long before his political turn.
“I wouldn’t feel so bad if Trump actually believed in anything, but all he cares about is his own financial well being, and he’ll profit off of us,” said retiree Valerie Cihylik. Jones said she’s tried to use the moment to further educate her son, teaching him “how to make a decision that not only affects you, but other people too.”
– Immigration –
Not everyone mourned: lawyer Nathalie Feldgun told AFP near Central Park that, like many Americans, she voted for Trump over inflation, and because of his vow of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. “The country doesn’t have a border,” she said. Construction worker Rich Gala voiced a similar sentiment. “I voted for the individual that I thought would put America first and Americans first,” the 60-year-old said.
Trump’s vitriolic language over immigration has had a particular resonance in New York, where 200,000 migrants have arrived since the spring of 2022. And while New York City and New York state remain reliably pro-Democrat, Trump did make vote gains in comparison to his previous runs. Still, for many New Yorkers, their city feels like the safest place to be in a moment of nationwide division.
For native New Yorker Alex Dumont, 41, Trump’s win “does make me feel this weird feeling of like, I can’t ever move away from here.” “That’s not how I want to live in the world,” she said, but “I feel like he’s emboldened.” “He is gonna feel that he has a strong mandate. It’s terrifying.”
– Maggy Donaldson and Andrea Bambino
© 2024 AFP
