Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Trumpets Big Turnout in Brooklyn

Voter turnout is high across New York City this morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters, speaking on a street corner outside of his Brooklyn polling site just after 10 a.m.

“I really like what I’m seeing,” de Blasio said . “It certainly augurs well for Hillary Clinton that her home state is turning out for her.”

The mayor, who managed Clinton’s first campaign for U.S. Senate in 2000, said that he was aware of only one significant problem at a city poll site so far; a Brooklyn polling location that opened late.

De Blasio arrived with his wife Charlaine McCray at the Brooklyn Public Library branch on 6th Avenue in Park Slope just after 9:30 AM. The mayor greeted police officers guarding the poll site, then disappeared inside the library to wait on line. After casting his ballot, he went to pick up a coffee at Colson Patisserie, the local bakery where he remains a regular, before returning to address the press.

“I feel great about Hillary Clinton’s chances today,” de Blasio said.

McCray, who beamed as she walked down the library steps, said she was excited to be voting for Clinton. “This is a historic moment,” McCray said. “I signed my bubble slowly to savor the moment.”

In response to reporters’ questions, the mayor said that long lines at polls make the case for early voting New York. “This state is backwards at this point,” he said. “We have some of the worst voting laws in the entire country.”

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.