New York City Goes to the Polls

“Get that asshole out of office,” and other thoughts from voters on Election Day.
A woman sitting in a wheelchair held by another woman both masked
Marjorie Charles, eighty-one, and Hannah Pierre, her home attendant, seventy-seven, outside their polling place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. When asked whom she voted for, Pierre said, “I’m a Democrat, so guess who!”Photographs by Caroline Tompkins for The New Yorker


For many New York City voters, the question of the 2020 Presidential election was not whom to vote for but when. For the first time, the city offered all voters the option to cast their ballots in person ahead of Election Day. During nine days of early voting, many showed up to their polling places knowing they’d wait for hours. On the other hand, who could predict the swarms that might turn out on November 3rd? Voters were urged to dress warmly, pack snacks, and bring folding chairs. In the end, early voting drew about twenty-four per cent of the city’s registered voters (some 1.1 million people). Still, plenty held out for Tuesday—some because of logistical challenges to early voting (a job, a new puppy), others for the sheer satisfaction of performing their Election Day ritual. At 5:30 A.M. on Tuesday morning, a half hour before the city’s polling places opened their doors, two dozen or so voters were already lined up outside the gates of P.S. 316, an elementary school in Brooklyn. The early-morning air had a wintry bite, and the horizon was pale and pinkened with the beginnings of sunrise.

By nine o’clock, the pre-opening lines were long gone—at P.S. 316, as at poll sites around the city, voters were walking straight inside, picking up their ballots, and getting their democratic duty done with before heading off to catch buses, make it to doctor’s appointments, or head home to begin an anxious workday. In Staten Island’s Todt Hill, the borough’s ritziest neighborhood, a trickle of Land Rovers drove through the gates of Staten Island Academy, whose gymnasium serves as a polling place, many waving to a gentleman who stood just outside the hundred-foot electioneering boundary, handing out Trump literature to anyone whose car window happened to be down. Outside the gothic brick edifice of I.S. 73, a middle school in Maspeth, Queens, “VOTE HERE/VOTA AQUÍ” signs tied to the wrought-iron fencing were the only hint, on the otherwise sleepy block, that one of the most contentious, high-stakes elections in American history was under way. People walked in and just a few minutes later stepped out again into the clear morning light, pausing to adjust hats and sunglasses, making sure their “I VOTED” stickers were securely stuck to the front of their coats.

Edward Gomez, forty-five, restaurateur, and Braxton.
Todt Hill, Staten Island.

Is that a MAGA collar?

Yeah, he’s incognito. Don’t tell!

Dot Rispoli, ninety-one.
Dongan Hills, Staten Island.

Who did you vote for?

Biden.

How do you feel about that?

I liked him before. I like him now.

Are you going to watch the election results come in tonight?

No, I don’t look at television.

Luke D’Apice, fifty-four, Verizon field technician.
Dongan Hills, Staten Island.

I’m a little worried about your legs.

I didn’t think it was gonna be this chilly.

Who did you vote for today?

Joe Biden, of course.

Why “of course”?

When I was a kid and I started voting, unions always voted for Democrats. It might have switched today. Being out here, I am definitely in the minority.

How does that feel?

It’s O.K. Nobody really talks about it. I know my wife has lost a few friends. You know, I see a lot of people who say that Democrats are like sheep. But I think it’s totally the opposite. Most of these Republicans, whatever Trump says they believe. It’s amazing.

Danielle DiSalvo (left), forty-nine, court reporter, and her sister Michele Iavaroni, fifty-four, hairdresser.
Dongan Hills, Staten Island.

Can I ask who you voted for?

D.D.: Can we say who we voted for?

You can say whatever you want.

Both: Donald Trump!

Maryam LaRoche, forty-one, unemployed.
Dongan Hills, Staten Island.

How was voting today?

Empty, in and out.

Who did you vote for?

I voted for Biden.

Was it a tough choice?

No, not at all.

Patrick McConeghy, twenty-four, analyst at a consultancy firm, and Sylvia Anderson, incoming graduate student, twenty-two.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

P.M.: I voted for Trump in 2016. I think I fell for a lot of the messages he was shooting for. I liked a lot of his policy positions as well. But I think, at the end of the day, he didn’t really seem to be a Presidential figure.

Was there a moment when you felt like, I think I’m switching allegiances?

Maybe after the first debate. Right after that, I went back and watched the Romney-Obama debates, and I was, like, “Oh, wow, these are much different. Maybe this is what it should be.”

Jackson Point Dujour, seventy-seven.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

I was registered Democrat, but I have a reason I voted Republican this year. Mr. Biden, when he was doing the debate, he pointed his two index fingers over at the President. I did not like it, because, according to body language, when you point at somebody it is a threat. And I think he will lose the election, because he violated the President’s civil rights.

So you voted for Trump instead of Biden because Biden pointed at Trump?

Exactly! That’s right.

Lauren Bridgeman, thirty-two, creative director at a nonprofit.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

How was the scene inside the polling place?

It was quiet right now, but really positive. I think everyone is just trying to be there for each other, and support each other, and hoping for the best in these tough times.

What does “the best” mean for you right now?

It means getting that asshole out of office.

Yolanda Latham, sixty, officer in the Parks Department.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

What are you planning to do with the rest of the day today?

Well, since I got out so early, I’m going to one of my diners to have breakfast. Because I am hungry, I’ve been up since five.

What are you going to have for breakfast?

I think some soft-scrambled eggs with home fries, and perhaps some beef sausage.

It sounds like you’re gonna go to Tom’s.

Not this morning. If my daughter chooses to, I will, but I was going to Neptune’s.

They have better beef sausage than Tom’s?

No one in Brooklyn is better than Tom’s.

Alex Silver, thirty-two, personal trainer.
Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

How come you decided to vote on Election Day?

I was unemployed due to the coronavirus crisis, I’ve had a lot of free time, and I knew that regardless of how long the lines were I’d be here.

Did you get a new job?

I’ve actually completely switched careers. I used to work in live-event production. My industry got real screwed real fast.

Louis Daniels, fifty-two, retired, and Adela Daniels, fifty-three, school administrator.
Maspeth, Queens.

Had you thought about doing early voting at all?

L.D.: I thought about it, but then I’m old school, so I like to do it on Election Day.

Who did you vote for?

L.D.: Trump.

What do you think is going to happen over the next couple of days?

I see myself as a conservative person, and I look at both sides, but I don’t like when, if you don’t get what you want, you cause destruction and damage. Listen, you didn’t win. It’s like that in sports. It’s like that in life. And I think a lot of what happened, in Minnesota and all that, might have an impact on the election, because of the riots.

Which way?

For Trump. I think there’s a big silent majority.

Maria Félix, forty-seven, and her daughter, Daniella Nanterne, five.
Maspeth, Queens.

Do you always bring Daniella to vote?

It’s her first time.

Why did you bring her today?

I need her to understand she has to vote every year, to contribute. And her vote counts—she has to come and vote and have a voice.


Read More About the 2020 Election