New Yorkers and a recognisable figure pose outside Trump Tower (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Election Day unfolded peacefully in New York City on Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures mirroring summer weather and people taking time out of their busy day to cast their votes.
Police officers were assigned to polling sites across New York City, but there were no reports of election-related violence or protests planned in the afternoon.
Maddie Grussing, 23, who is from London but has lived in the US for five years and works at a law firm, went to a polling site at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.
‘I just think it’s just really important to show out and vote and make your voice heard,’ she told Metro.
‘I voted for Kamala Harris. I think she aligns with the direction I want the US to go in. I think sort of at the top of her ticket are things that are very important to me like female reproductive rights and I was super excited to vote for her. First female president.’
A Cybertruck is covered in Trump graffiti (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Metro’s US news editor Jess Kwong on how her election day unfolded in New York City
New Yorkers woke up to a gorgeous, unseasonably warm 70-degree Fahrenheit Election Day.
Around the lunchtime I went to vote at my polling site which was only a block away from home.
Surprisingly there was no line and I was quickly given a paper ballot and instructions.
A poll worker told me that voters had been coming in spurts and that there are more polling locations spread out across the city, cutting down on wait times.
One police officer was stationed inside the polling site, keeping watch. There were 10 voting booths set up in the room, about half of them unoccupied.
I filled out the bubbles for the candidates and propositions within minutes and fed my ballot into a machine that immediately accepted it.
It was seamless, and seemed like a regular, busy afternoon in New York City. But Election Day was young.
While the day had been calm, Grussing said news reports on events around the country remind her that ‘it can be a scary time’.
‘I think no one’s forgotten the events of four years ago,’ she said, referring to the January 6 Capitol riot when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to stop the election results from being certified.
Outside of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, two rows of barricades were set up, but there wasn’t a visible large police presence in the afternoon. Many tourists waited for pictures with a professional impersonator posing as ex-President Donald Trump. A security guard at the tower did not mind.
‘I’m making hundreds and hundreds,’ said the impersonator, Neil Greenfield, 61, who lives in New York City.
A man walked by and shouted, ‘Go back to Florida, f*****s.’
‘Good day!’ Greenfield responded.
A Trump fan – and Trump (or the closest he’s going to get to him today) (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
A block …read more
Source:: Metro
