New Yorkers tell Metro what they really think about Harris and Trump

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 vote in the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Police officers were assigned to polling sites across New York City, but no reports of election-related violence or protests were planned in the afternoon.

Maddie Grussing, 23, from London, has lived in the US for five years and works at a law firm. She 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. (She would be the) first female president.’

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, there were two rows of barricades but not a visibly large police presence in the afternoon. Many tourists waited for pictures with a professional impersonator posing as ex-President Donald Trump. A security guard outside 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 block south of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, a crowd gathered around a Tesla Cybertruck covered in spray paint, with ‘TRUMP’ written across the trunk.

Some people used spray paint left in a box to cover the ‘TRUMP’ lettering, but another man soon used red, white and blue spray paint and re-wrote the Republican candidate’s name.

The Cybertruck owner, Boris Vitvitskiy, 47, of Noblesville, Indiana, wore a Trump hat and red shirt stating ‘red state Republican’ with a checkmark on Trump and his vice presidential running mate JD Vance. Vitvitskiy, a doctor, said he participated in early voting in his home state and supported the former president.

‘I brought Cybertruck because I wanted to show support for Donald Trump. The president of our country, the president of the world, Donald Trump,’ he said.

‘I think he’s going to save the world and he’s going to restore balance to this nation and to the world. We’re all going to have long and beautiful lives again.’

Vivitskiy added that he welcomed people of all political views to spray paint on his Cybertruck, which Trump was gifted by a podcaster on the campaign trail.

‘This is like freedom of speech, think about it this way. Anybody who wants to write something feel free, Harris, Trump, whatever… An election is just a competition, that’s what it is for me,’ he said.

‘This is awesome energy. Only in New York!’

New York City residents JD Brookshire, 48, and his mum, Martha Brookshire, 75, went to vote together for the first time on Tuesday evening at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School.

Asked who they voted for to be president, they declined to say.

‘In this city, it might not be a good idea,’ said JD.

His mother jumped in: ‘You can probably figure that out now.’

JD added that he didn’t feel Election Day tension despite the race being one of the closest in American history.

‘I feel more energy, just participating. Everyone doing their civic duty. I don’t know if it’s jubilation,’ he said.

Asked what she would do if the other candidate wins, Martha said: ‘You don’t have another choice, make the best of it.’The New York Young Republican Club held a watch party at Downtown Social in the East Village, with hundreds of members gathering to watch the results broadcast on Fox News and CNN.

Members, some wearing MAGA gear and others in regular clothes, cheered as Trump won Texas and Ohio.

Queens resident Daniella May, 33, vice chairwoman of the club’s black focus, donned a MAGA hat and red shirt with a studded jean jacket.

‘The highlight was seeing Trump win Texas,’ she said, ‘Because Kamala was thinking that bringing Beyoncé was going to get the Beyhive, and to see that he came out on top despite what she did.’

May, a real estate agent who has been a club member for a year, added: ‘I like how it’s going.

‘I always felt it was going towards Trump just based on how Democrats lead their own and not giving them a choice, so I always felt a Republican was going to win, whether it be Trump or anyone.’

When Trump lost New York, May was surprised.

‘I was actually upset by it because I really thought he was going to win it or come close,’ she said.

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