1st Ave-St. Marks - minutes after Obama was projected winner
So, as I’m sure everyone in the world knows, Barack Obama will be our next president – yeah!!!
As over 130 million people did on Tuesday, I went and voted here in NYC. I found it odd and rather funny that besides the presidential candidates, I don’t think there were any other people on the ballots except for Democrats. Like, no one ran against the Democrats in my district because it’s so staunchly liberal. Yeah!….
The evening started over my friend and neighbor’s Chesley’s (who conveniently lives across the hall) – about 10 people got together to snack, chat and listen to the returns. (Chesley doesn’t own a television.) I, on the other hand, left mine on and popped back every so often to see the results (TV seemed to be a bit quicker than the Internet, mainly because we kept forgetting to refresh the screen….). I got rather obsessed with the large iPhone wall that CNN had. And what’s up with the hologram interviews – I forget what station that was on – but are we all turning into Star Trek?
But how exciting were the results? Obama just kept racking up the electoral votes. We went out around 10 – 10:30 to the Tile Bar – a bar right at 7th Street and 1st Avenue (like outside our door…). Unfortunately, the TV there was really small, but it seemed like the second the polls closed on the west coast, the stations projected Obama as the winner.
Deena, Diane, Chesley and Dan banging pots in celebration (and true East Village style!)
All of a sudden, all around outside, all we could hear was cheering. Cheering, screaming and applauding was coming from windows, rooftops, opened windows in cars. The entire East Village erupted in screams. As we looked over at 7th street, we saw one lone man walking proudly down the street, banging on a pot. I’d never heard of this until I moved to New York, but on New Year’s people tend to bang pots and pans out their window. But, tonight, it was all about Obama.
We ran back to our apartments and grabbed pots, pans and things to bang. By the time we got back outside, we noticed a crowd amassing at St. Marks and 1st Avenue, so we went over and joined in the celebrations. Okay – one sidenote – the East Village is so changing – there were so many young Yuni’s (young urban narcissists) there, not the old time, edgy East Villagers I moved here to hang out with. Oh, well, a sign of the changing times I guess….
And even the Yuni’s couldn’t bother me Tuesday night. People were literally dancing in the street. Others joined us with pots and pans. A woman blared her trumpet. As cars would come up First Avenue (they’re staggered because of the lights), the entire crowd would erupt with screams and cheers as the cars came by. Cab drivers were honking their horns and throwing their fists in the air, more excited than I’d ever seen them.
At one point, a First Ave bus went by. There were several people on it. It had to go slowly by us because the crowd had grown really large by that point and was starting to spill out onto First Avenue. People out on the street were cheering and waving to everyone on the bus. This one older African-American woman stood up and looked so proud as she waved to all of us – and the entire street just erupted with joy. It brought tears to my eyes.
Election night St. Marks and 1st Avenue, NYC
This went on for hours. We all laughed when a Playgirl.com van stopped in the crowd, and a bunch of Playgirl guys got out and started dancing on the top of the van – it was soooo New York. I mean, how else to bring in a whole new era of not just life but of consciousness than to share it with gigolos dancing on the roof of their playgirl van?….
A group of us took our makeshift instruments, with Chesley in the lead on Gazoo, and marched around the block from 1st/7th to 7th/Ave A down to 6th Street and back around – people were coming out of bars cheering wildly when we went by.
I’ve lived in New York City going over 18 years now, and, I have to say, I have never in my life seen anything even close to this. When have you ever seen anyone out in the streets in the US cheering and celebrating a presidential election? This really is the beginning of something new. And I’m not really bothered how much Obama can get done or not get done – he has brought hope back to millions. He has given people a new faith in this country. On my Facebook account, for the first time, I saw people writing that they were actually proud to be an American. I actually think this is the first time I’m actually proud to be an American myself. There’s hope and possibility for our future now – so no matter what Obama can actually accomplish, I hope that spirit of hope and possibility stays with us. It really feels like the beginning of a new era – and I’m so honored to have been able to be part of it.
Here’s to all of us – worldwide. May we all find solutions to our problems and ways to find peace, both inside and out! I’m just so excited! – Obama rocks!!! YEAH!!!!!
