Melancholy took Manhattan (except for one particular block of 5th Avenue) on Wednesday hours after Donald Trump won re-election to a second, non-consecutive term over Kamala Harris.
The Election Day enthusiasm that pervaded the Big Apple on Tuesday gave way to the reality of the outcome. Trump might be a native New Yorker, but this is the third time he lost his former home state. Harris won the Empire State and its 28 electoral votes, but Trump won both the popular and electoral votes nationwide — even after being criminally indicted four times and convicted once in Manhattan since his first term.
Almost all New Yorkers amNewYork Metro spoke with Wednesday shared both their disappointment and concerns over the final outcome.
“I am just not in the right mindset to talk right now,” one woman said as she sat on a bench in Midtown.
Tayler, a 20-year-old first-time voter, said the prospect of a Harris win drew her to the polls, but she instead woke up during the early hours to see the results did not go her way.
“I was really surprised, I thought she was gonna win. I woke up, at like, three in the morning, and he already won all the battleground states,” Tayler said. “I thought it would be more of a closer race, and I thought people would come to their senses a little more.”
Hersh Gupta, 37, said he wholeheartedly supported a Harris presidency and voted for her at the polls. However, he also revealed that he is not surprised by the outcome.
Gupta said he believes that the Republican Party did a better job of spreading their message to voters, which he called “fear-mongering,” while adding that Democrats have failed to combat Trump correctly.
“It’s a very interesting thing that a lot of young males are gravitating towards Trump’s ideology. There is something about this bravado of Trump that appeals to a male person. I think the Democrats have to really kind of understand where they stand, and who they are trying to deal with,” Gupta said. “Clearly, the country doesn’t care how bad of a person he is.”
Gupta also spoke on the almost eerie feeling of walking through the New York streets the day after the big election.
“You can feel a sense of quietness in New York City, whereas, let’s say, if it was a different outcome, I think you would probably hear a lot more cheer, which is to be expected,” Gupta said. “I think the four years are going to go by fast. There are safety guidelines that exist that Trump cannot obviously run anymore. But what does that mean for the country beyond Trump? I don’t know.”
Native New Yorkers were not the only ones who felt frustrated over the outcome.
Daniel Schafer, 32, lives in Germany but occasionally works in New York. Schafer said he hoped that Harris would take the election but feels that Americans were seduced by Trump’s promises and buzzwords like “Make America Great Again,” as well as his pledge to put the country first.
“I spoke to some people that say well maybe Donald Trump is an a**hole, but he will do something for America. He stands for America. I think a lot of people don’t understand what these politicians stand for,” Schafer explained. “In Germany, there’s also a tendency for a right-wing tendency happening right now. And I think what’s bad about it is that kind of policy, also the policy of Donald Trump, is a policy of fear — a policy of segregation and hate. I think it’s separating rather than uniting.”
Down on Wall Street, where stocks soared in the wake of Trump’s apparent victory, reaction was more mixed.
“I am not surprised, a part of me is sad, Harris ran on a similar platform,” said one attorney and life-long New Yorker, who declined to provide their name. “Trump is way more favorable across the country.”
Street vendor Victor Martinez, however, expressed his disappointment.
“I can’t believe this guy is back,” he said.
As most of the city mourned and shared a bleak outlook on the future, a small group of MAGA faithful celebrated their win outside of Trump Tower on 5th Avenue Wednesday, waving flags and cheering.
“I believe that he cares about the American people like nobody else. I trust him. I believe him. The things that he wants to accomplish will even benefit the ones that hate him,” 59-year-old Christine Randoll said.
With reporting by Lloyd Mitchell
