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Brooklyn Reacts to Donald Trump’s Election Win
“I just thought we were gonna turn the page.”
Donald John Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday morning, marking a dramatic end to a polarizing presidential campaign and securing a second term in office.
“This was a movement like nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said during his victory speech in West Palm Beach, Fla., as the crowd chanted “U.S.A.”
“Every citizen—I will fight for you, for your family, and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you, and with every breath in my body. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve.”
The final results saw Trump win with 277 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 224 votes, according to the New York Times. (Candidates secure the presidency with 270 votes.) Trump also won the popular vote, while Republicans gained control of the Senate.
New York voters passed Proposition 1, a measure that enshrines the right to abortion in the state. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, easily won a third full term in the Senate. And Republicans flipped a State Senate seat in Brooklyn, with retired NYPD sergeant Steven Chan defeating Democratic incumbent Iwen Chu, a first-term senator, in the Borough’s 17th District, which includes Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Sunset Park.
At Rose’s R&R Bar in Williamsburg on Tuesday, the mood early in the night was upbeat, with people drinking, socializing, and energetically participating in humorous presidential trivia games as the results rolled in.
“We’re going to laugh, we might cry, we’re definitely going to trauma-bond,” the host joked before diving into a round of questions. When Trump gained and held the lead, the mood slowly shifted, and some patrons left.
Williamsburg resident Barbara Deasey voted for Harris and made it clear that if Trump won, she would be “devastated.”
“As a woman, that’s going to be really negative for women’s reproductive health and health care for us in general,” she said. “Having to argue for my rights to just receive medical care—it shouldn’t be based on state lines that you cross.”
Stacy Carlson, a Greenpoint resident, echoed Deasey’s concerns.
“It’s giving a voice to hatred and suppression,” she said.
Carlson called her choice “emotional voting,” which she described as casting her vote with hope.
“I just felt like there was so much momentum—people coming together,” she said. “It didn’t feel as divisive as it’s been the last however many years now. I just thought we were gonna turn the page.”
