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Trump Victory Stuns New Yorkers

By  Trevor Kapp Aidan Gardiner and Eddie Small | November 9, 2016 7:38am | Updated on November 9, 2016 8:09am

 The crowd outside the Hillary Clinton election party at the Jacob Javits Center.
The crowd outside the Hillary Clinton election party at the Jacob Javits Center.
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Dnainfo/Maya Rajamani

MIDTOWN — New Yorkers woke up Wednesday morning to grapple with a stunning new phrase: President Trump.

Some lauded the Republican candidate's victory over Hillary Clinton, who conceded the election in a call to him just before 3 a.m., as the fulfillment of Donald Trump's aspirations for the United States.

But many others tried to understand the ascendance of a real estate mogul who was caught on tape admitting he groped women, who has never held public office and ran a campaign marred by controversy. 

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"It's ridiculous. He has no political experience. Never a senator, a mayor, never even an alderman. Now he's gonna be experimenting with the country," said Josh Brown, 27, a construction worker from West Harlem.

"It scares me," Brown said Wednesday morning in an interview near The Peninsula Hotel.

Trump, who cast his ballot in Midtown to boos and jeers from a crowd around him, lost New York to the one-time senator shortly after polls closed here at 9 p.m.

But results mounted in the next few hours that shut out a nationwide Clinton victory. Once-jubilant election results watch parties turned dour across the city.

Eventually, the crowds that had gathered at the Jacob Javits Center hoping to celebrate a Clinton victory, were told to head home.

Some of those who were shocked by Trump's victory agreed that he was unqualified to serve as the commander-in-chief.

"It's baffling to me. It's sad, but he's president and we have to support him. But he's not fit for the job," said Cindy Almonte, 36, an event planner from Hell's Kitchen said Wednesday morning.

Others agreed.

"Hopefully he does what he said and America becomes great. We need to bring jobs back here," said Deborah Sanchez, 42, a hotel worker from Middle Village.

"His policies make no sense. We have to support him though. We have no choice."

South Bronx Rep. Jose Serrano, who won his own reelection campaign on Tuesday, said he did not see a Trump victory coming and was very uneasy about how he would behave as president.

"He hasn’t convinced me yet of anything," Serrano said. "I only know the guy that ran for president, and he was mean-spirited, and he was nasty."