Voters in Borough Park hope for Trump

Voters line up in Borough Park. Image by Sally Goldenberg/POLITICO
On 18th Avenue, in the heart of Borough Park, the P.S. 192 building was wide open for voting — but by the afternoon, there were hardly any voters standing in line.
In a nearby cafe, a Haredi Israeli man stood next to the baked goods counter, asking locals about their voting preferences. “We have to get this crazy man out of the White House!” he exclaimed.
Within seconds, a group of yeshiva students gathered around him, and a debate broke out..
Yummy, a young Hasid who requested his last name not be used, said that he had escorted his friend to his first time at the polls that morning. “I wore a Trump mask, but it was okay, because here most people are for Trump, because you know, we are Jews.”
Shloimy, a Hasidic young man, said many young people in his circles have not voted this year. “But people should definitely vote, even in states like New York. It’s the best thing for democracy,” he said, adding, “Some people say it’s a mitzvah.” Shloimy himself said he did not vote.
“The outcome is scary if Trump doesn’t win,” said Shloimy. “I’m afraid of the Democratic party, the way they’re going too much to the left socially. I’m not saying Biden is socialist, but he might be overtaken by them.”
The mainstream media is “embarrassing”, he said. “I was listening to CNN the other night about these Trump caravans.” During the Black Lives Matter protests, he claimed, “You didn’t hear a word from CNN.”
“Here in Borough Park, we’re not worried about election violence,” said Yummy.
Indeed, no storefronts are boarded up like in Manhattan— clothing stores are plastered with signs in English saying they are closed due to the neighborhood being a red zone. Some with handwritten Hebrew and Yiddish notes say they are open and ask customers to please use the back entrance.
And what if there’s violence in case of a Biden victory? “If the white supremacists come out, then the Democratic government of New York will shut it down,” Yossi said.
Outside, a white minivan drove by with a Trump banner draped across, playing music from a loudspeaker, with a Hasidic driver. Mothers pushing strollers paused to watch it drive by, men rushed by on their way to afternoon prayers. “Four more years!” the jingle sang. “Four more years for President Trump!”
“If Biden wins, we aren’t scared,” said Shloimy. “We will respect the results.”
Yossi added, “If they’re fair.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
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.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.