Special Report

America Votes

To some voters in Stuytown, the president is “deplorable”

Signs lead you to the polls at Stuyvesant Town, on the edge of the East Village.

It is noon on Election Day and several poll workers greet voters at one of the many polling locations in the 80-acre Stuytown complex, just north of Alphabet City. 

There was an initial rush and a line about an hour long at 6:00 a.m. when polls opened, but that has since died down, according to the poll site coordinator. Voters like Nicole Milazzo and Heather Cohen entered and exited the building within minutes.

Both of these women voted for Joe Biden. To them, the president is deplorable.

“I don’t think [Donald Trump] is a very nice human being, and I don’t think what he has been portraying for the past four years is presidential, or someone that I want as a leader,” said Milazzo, 35. 

She hadn’t supported any candidate during the Democratic Primary, but knew she would vote for whoever became the nominee. 

Cohen, 33, was an Elizabeth Warren supporter before the senator dropped out of the race. Her distrust of the president led her to support Biden.

“The alternative [to Biden] is hideous and has been hideous for four years now,” she said. 

The more than 230,000 deaths caused by Covid-19 in the United States loomed large in Cohen’s decision.

“It is appalling that so many people in this country died unnecessarily because of the inactivity, negligence, and flat out cruelty of this administration,” she said. 

Despite Covid-19 and access to mail balloting, Cohen felt it was important to vote in person. 

“I enjoy voting,” she said. “I wanted to make sure my vote was counted. I know sending [mail ballots] in is problematic. I’ve personally experienced mail delays, so I didn’t want to chance it.”

Countless establishments in New York and other major cities have boarded up doors and windows in anticipation of mass civil unrest following the presidential election. Milazzo believes some kind of unrest will take place, but Cohen isn’t so sure.

Milazzo shared that her friend’s daughter had to participate in a lockdown drill “because of the election” this week at her daycare. 

“I honestly did not think about the possibility of [civil unrest],” she said. “I’m hoping for the best, but I’m probably not going to leave [my apartment] late tonight at all.”

Cohen doesn’t believe any unrest will take place.

“I think that’s rather inflammatory,” she said. “I don’t think the next week is going to be easy, but I don’t believe that [there will be civil unrest].”

Both women are generally optimistic about the election.

“I’ve been really impressed with the amount of people all over the country that I’m seeing who have taken a real interest in politics this year,” said Milazzo. “I felt like that wasn’t the case the last four or eight years. No matter what happens I think we’ve all learned something.”

 

Author


Other Stories in Special Report: America Votes

America Celebrates the Election

The staff of Pavement Pieces November 11, 2020

New York celebrates historic win

Thomas Hengge November 8, 2020

BIDEN WINS

Tori Luecking November 7, 2020

Biden win brings relief

Addison Aloian November 7, 2020

The energy of Election Day in New York City

Tori Luecking November 6, 2020

Boarded up, buttons for sale and a Republican viewing party on Election Day in NYC

Michelle Diaz November 6, 2020

Pennsylvania race narrows

Courtney Guarino November 5, 2020

Arab Americans of Dearborn vote Biden

Quratulain Tejani November 4, 2020

Amid national tension and uncertainty, Joe Biden scores big in Michigan.

Sughnen Yongo November 4, 2020

Three black women, three walks of life, one presidential election

Jada Okoye November 4, 2020

Voting in Clifton, New Jersey

Kaity Assaf November 3, 2020

Taking the temperature of voters

Journalistic Inquiry November 3, 2020

Students wait and watch

Lana Green November 3, 2020

Students strategize on mail-in or in-person voting 

Lana Green November 3, 2020

Following American politics from the other side of the pond

Lexi Hobbs November 3, 2020

Union Square polling site sees lower turnout, but passionate voters

Yunlai Silvia Gui and Yi Lily Yang November 3, 2020

Early voter visits Texas polling site Election Day to support sister on the ballot

Zoya Hasan November 3, 2020

Voting For The Lesser Of Two Evils

Kirill Bykanov November 3, 2020

NYU student flies over a thousand miles to vote

Addison Aloian November 3, 2020

Two coasts, two Biden votes

Bry Leberthon November 3, 2020

Young voter from Maryland can’t find meaning in the vote

Vanessa Handy November 3, 2020

 Bilingual coordinator in Yonkers, N.Y. helps Spanish-speakers vote

Maria Jinu Kulapurathazhe November 3, 2020

Americans in China Watch and Worry

Jennifer Ren November 3, 2020

Election Day

Photojournalism Class Project November 3, 2020

Soho Trump supporter cast his vote

Mengyang Zeng November 3, 2020

Voting in Lower Manhattan

Paola Michelle Ortiz November 3, 2020

New Yorkers on edge as the city prepares for a turbulent election night

Emily Welsch November 3, 2020

Denise Scudder says the stakes are high for Black Voters

Calen Razor November 3, 2020

In 2020, Election Day may rhyme with unrest. At least, that’s what officials fear

Edith Rousselot November 3, 2020

Brooklyn polling site sees small crowd on Election Day

Alessandro Malave November 3, 2020

First time voter ponders America’s future

Marie Louise Onga Nana November 3, 2020

Masked, Boarded Up, and Subdued: Election Day in Times Square

James Pothen November 3, 2020

NYU student casts ballot for Biden-Harris campaign 

Angela Choe November 3, 2020

New Yorkers are ready to VOTE

Photojournalism Class Project November 3, 2020

West Village streets quiet as voters brace for outcome

Abby Rupert November 3, 2020

Virginia Prepares for a Turbulent Election

Julia Gregory November 3, 2020

The Message of “Law and Order” Resonates with TriBeCa Mother

Michael Campanella November 3, 2020

Latino voter chooses Trump

Emma Shores November 3, 2020

Poll worker keeps it moving

Norah Hogan November 3, 2020

NYU sophomore casts ballot for Biden at dorm polling station

Sofya Akcayoglu November 3, 2020

Elderly black voter does not take the right for granted

Nya Etienne November 3, 2020

A reluctant voter makes a choice

Shivani Chauhan November 3, 2020

Smoke clears over Bay Area as voters take to the polls

Karina Gamez November 3, 2020

Fears of violence in the aftermath of Election Day have citizens uneasy

Mikayla Rivers November 3, 2020

First time voters in Long Island worry about election outcome 

Christina Strippoli November 3, 2020

The pandemic can’t stop Generation Z from voting

Jaeguk Lee November 3, 2020

Trump Tower mail in voter for Biden

Shea Grant November 2, 2020

For some, early voting means long lines and lots of rain

Vaishnavi Naidu November 2, 2020

Harlem sees rain showers, fast lines ahead of Election Day

Hanna Gebremichael November 1, 2020