NEW YORK CITY — Slow-moving lines continued to cause extensive delays hours after polls opened to voters Tuesday morning in a historic election that could see the first woman elected president.
Problems began early across the city as New Yorkers reported waiting for hours at some polling sites. Early voters lined up before polling places opened at 6 a.m. to cast their ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
“I’ve been waiting two hours. I have to go to New Jersey for work," Rose Bentick, who was waiting to vote at Silver Houses in Prospect-Lefferts Garden.
But Bentick, determined to cast her vote this morning, was willing to risk being late to work.
"I'm not leaving," she said.
Two topless women protesters were arrested at polling place in Midtown. Donald Trump voted at the same location later in the morning, where he was met with boos and jeers from the crowd.
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The line this morning at my polling place on the upper west side. pic.twitter.com/KSY6EyxQNa
— Miles Doran (@MilesDoran) November 8, 2016
Line to vote already around the block in Ditmas Park at 7am #Election2016 @DNAinfoNY pic.twitter.com/aunmb1azi8
— Kathleen Culliton (@K_Culliton) November 8, 2016
Though one of the most bitter and caustic presidential campaigns in modern history, New Yorkers did not forget the historic nature of their vote that could result in the country's first woman president.
“Who woulda thunk?” Clinton supporter Tony Hillery, 57, said outside his polling site at P.S. 175 in Central Harlem.
“Us black folk, we just got the right to vote in my lifetime and to vote for a black man twice and now a woman, who woulda thunk?”
Kristen Massaro, 34, voted this morning at St. Sebastian's auditorium in Woodside, alongside her 10-year-old pup, Alfie.
Massaro will spend the rest of the day driving residents to the polling place up a steep hill from her apartment complex, Berkeley Towers, including her 84-year-old grandmother, Alice McGuggart, who she said is "very excited" to vote for Clinton.
"She thinks this is going to be her last election," Massaro said. "She's really excited to vote for Hillary. It's something she didn't think she would see in her lifetime, a woman president."
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Alfie the dog, 10, accompanied his owner, Kristen Massaro, to the polls in Woodside on Election Day. He obtained an "I Voted" sticker, too. [Credit: DNAinfo/Katie Honan]
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray greeted voters at their Park Slope polling site, where they cast their vote.
A line of voters wait outside a Williamsburg poling station on Graham Avenue at around 7:30 a.m. (DNAinfo/Gwynne Hogan)
Clinton held a commanding 17-point lead over Trump in New York going into Election Day, according to a Siena College poll released Sunday.
Nationally the gap is narrower with Clinton polling at 46 percent and Trump at 43 percent, according to a Bloomberg poll conducted between Nov. 4 and Nov. 6.
The poll was conducted following the resurfacing of a scandal surrounding a private email server she used while serving as secretary of state. On Oct. 28, FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress that more emails had been discovered during the investigation of former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner for inappropriate exchanges with a 15-year-old girl. Weiner is separated from Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
On Sunday Comey announced that the bureau would stand by its decision that charges against Clinton were unwarranted after a yearlong investigation.
Trump has also faced criticism in recent weeks for lewd comments about women and bragging about kissing them without their consent that were caught on a hot mike while taping a segment for "Access Hollywood." After the release of that video, several women came forward with allegations of assault.
Also on the ballot in New York City is the race for U.S. Senate. Longtime incumbent Democrat Charles Schumer faces Republican opponent Wendy Long.
New Yorkers were also voting for the U.S. House of Representatives, state Assembly and Senate. For a full breakdown of races citywide and at the neighborhood level, you can read DNAinfo New York's 2016 Voter Guide.
Polls will close in New York at 9 p.m.
Refresh this story for updates throughout election day.
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