In the end, Clinton Street and Second Place were the real signs of the times.
Hundreds of Brooklynites gathered at President and Clinton streets in Carroll Gardens to watch the presidential election results roll in on Nov. 8, but the largely pro-Clinton crowd turned from celebration to desperation as it became increasingly unlikely that the street names would not prove prophetic — for a second time, at least — with many attendees saying they’d rather leave Brooklyn and the U.S. altogether than face life under a President Trump.
“I’m moving to Malaysia, I can’t live with that — the hate and the vile stuff that comes out of him, I’m already freaked out,” said Columbia Street Waterfront District resident and event co-organizer Amanda Zinoman, who said she was particularly scared for her African-American son. “It’s terrifying.”
More than 200 people were crammed into the corner at any one time during the bash, police estimated. The whole event was thrown together in only a few days, according to Zinoman — she and others raised some cash online for a permit and to rent a big screen to display live coverage, and several food trucks (including, yes, a taco truck) came out as well.
But it didn’t turn out to be the victory party guests were expecting, they said.
“We totally expected to be able to celebrate with Hillary here at the intersection,” said Robin Norwood, who lives nearby.
Still, they said, it was nice to be amongst friends.
“No matter what happens, we’ve still got a clan,” said Kensington resident Stephanie Hemshrot, who stumbled across the shindig while on her way to a bar.
The block-party people weren’t alone in their support for the former New York senator, who stationed her campaign headquarters nearby in Brooklyn Heights — almost 79 percent of Kings County voters cast their ballot for Clinton, with Trump earning just under 18 percent of Brooklyn ballots, according to state voting data. Some 60 percent of local Democrats also chose Clinton over her Midwood-born rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vermont) in the April primary.
Of the 1,400,766 active registered voters in the borough, 754,901 people voted in the presidential election.
The results were far less surprising in the down-ballot races — every incumbent member of Congress representing Brooklyn held their seat, and every Democratic candidate vying for Brooklyn’s state Senate and Assembly seats won, with many running unopposed.
