Economy, War, Immigration, Women's Rights All Take Center Stage For Brooklyn Voters

As Brooklyn residents headed to the polls on Tuesday, many voiced deep frustration with the state of the nation. By nightfall, Donald J. Trump had surged to victory, becoming the 47th President of the United States.

The economy, the Israel-Hamas war, immigration and women’s rights were top concerns for voters and had a polarizing effect in Brooklyn on an otherwise quiet general election day. Voter divisions were evident in several tight races in the borough, but it was clear that south Brooklyn had tilted red. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said he will work with the incoming administration and communicate the need for federal funds for city education, housing, health and infrastructure projects and services. 

“No matter who is in office, the city will always stand up for women, our immigrant brothers and sisters, our LGBTQ+ community and millions of others,” Adams said at a late morning press conference. 

One concern includes if, how and when Trump would implement his plan to deport undocumented immigrants. 

The city will wait and take a step back to see what will come in the next few months before advising immigrants, said Manuel Castro, the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Castro urged immigrants to keep sending their kids to school and use emergency services. 

“We don’t want to do anything that makes people more panicked and fearful,” he said.

Ditmas Park resident Bill Leander, who said he voted on Sunday, the last day of early voting, said he was “excited, exhausted, all of the above.”

“I always think the U.S. is a much better place than anywhere else in the world so I think we’re going to be fine, no matter who’s president,” the electrician said.

Leander, 54, said his family, who live in Brooklyn, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, were split on who they voted for. 

“It’s funny, I know which aunt to talk to about immigration, and which one to avoid talking to about inflation,” Leander said. 

In Park Slope, voters filed in and out of M.S. 51 on 5th Avenue, while children populated the nearby playground, taking advantage of the day off from public school. 

“What I wanted out of this election was for everyone in this election to remember that they are deeply human,” said 71-year-old Cynthia Clark, a retiree. “It just seems like there's been a lot of hatred, denigration and separation of people when we’re all humans.”  

Clark said this election feels different from those prior because of what’s at stake, or “the erosion of Democratic principles.” 

“These [Democratic principles] are questionable at best, because our country was set up by rich powerful white men who were setting up for their own benefit of rich white men to follow,” said Clark. “Trump and his team are very expert at going back in history and finding these times and what was happening.” 

Park Slope voter Roslyn Beck said she cast her ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris because she fights for women’s rights. 

“I don’t think that Trump cares about anyone but himself – he’s not really hearing what people’s needs are and I don’t see him involving people like me,” said Beck, a 63-year-old executive assistant at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. 

Alana Zeitchik of Williamsburg, who told BK Reader that several family members are hostages to Hamas in Gaza, said Trump will likely give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a blank check.

“My hope is that after this election, we will see a recommitment overall from both here and the Israeli government to make a deal to free the hostages and stop the war in Gaza,” the 39-year-old said. 

Simon Block, a software engineer-by-day, comedian-by-night, said he wanted the next president to “tax the wealthy.” 

The 29-year-old from Williamsburg was also concerned about how the next president would handle women's rights, the economy and the environment, areas in which he said Trump was “unproductive to the conversation.”

Gurinder Singh, the owner of Shetty Sportswear, a sneaker and clothing store on Flatbush Avenue, said he hopes the president will think more about the working class. As a retailer that caters to blue collar workers, he said his business suffers when families don’t have extra money for clothes and shoes. 

“The government should consider giving a lot more child support credits,” Singh said, who’s been a small business owner for over 25 years.

He said he noticed a dip in business from recent immigrants, as he suspects many are afraid to spend their money in fear of mass deportation.

Overall, Singh said he cared most about stable economic conditions. 

“We need a strong economy that lasts longer, through generations to include our children and grandchildren,” said Singh, 47. “What people want are jobs, money in their pockets.”