This morning, New Yorkers woke up to an unseasonably warm forecast and tension in the air. It is Election Day. You know the stakes, and you know that, just yesterday, the New York Times reported that“the polls show one of the closest presidential elections in the history of American politics.” People remain, generally, unhappy with how the political system is working. No one knows what’s going to happen today, but many New Yorkers know where they’ll turn up tonight: the nearest bar.
Around the city, a number of bars are hosting Election Night watch parties, including Elmhurst’s Terraza 7, which is having a “Democracy Celebration” to which it has invited “all voices.” The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is having three watch parties of its own — in Astoria, Bushwick, and the East Village — and New York Young Republicans are hosting an event (location undisclosed) in the East Village (“7 p.m. to late.”)
At Cobra Club in Bushwick, there will be live coverage on its projector in the front room and a couple drink specials (a shot for anyone who has their “I Voted” sticker and a special cocktail called “Go Blue!”). “We have security sitting at the door every night. If that was not something we normally did, I would schedule it,” co-owner Nikki Koch says. Even though “there’s a high level of anxiety” in the city, she doesn’t expect there’s going to be any real trouble, “but it might” be the case.
Not everyone is expecting issues from customers or even much in the way of additional business. “It shouldn’t be a big night. It’s an average night. You don’t want to do politics in bars. We’ll put the TVs on,” says Mario Roselli, the owner of the Subway Inn on the Upper East Side. When asked about the Election Night, a bartender at Jimmy’s Corner pointed to the sign behind the bar that reads “Let’s not discuss politics here.” Exceptions — even with so much at stake — will not be made.
A different bartender, who works at Nancy Whiskey Pub in Tribeca, says they are preparing for a regular Tuesday. “We think it’ll be busier when it’s declared,” she says. It’s going to be the same at PJ Leahy’s in Long Island City.
Down at Sunset Park’s Irish Haven, Matt Hogan says he’ll have the usual staff (one bartender) on but that he’s expecting a crowd. “I think there are going to be people who come down to sort of white-knuckle it, to watch the Electoral College roll in, and a crowd draws a crowd. We always have a decently busy night. Our bar is a decent split; it’s not a partisan bar,” he says. “The bar has a good flow of people who are just out for the action. Some people are just there to stir up shit, some people are just there to talk and learn.”
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