Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House may have a significant effect on large Democratic cities, but perhaps none more profound than his hometown, New York City.
Mr. Trump, the president-elect, has pledged to adopt a harsher stance on recent migrant arrivals, halt congestion pricing and cut taxes in a highly taxed region. His administration could also be at odds with city officials over climate change, health care and affordable housing.
And while Democratic leaders immediately sought to assure New Yorkers that they would protect the city and state, an increasing number of voters backed Mr. Trump’s agenda on Tuesday — and not just in Republican strongholds like Staten Island.
Though Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, won the state comfortably, all five boroughs shifted further to the right compared with 2020. With 87 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Trump received roughly 38 percent of the vote in Queens, the immigrant-rich borough where he grew up, compared with 27 percent four years ago.
Mr. Trump appeared to ride a palpable wave of concerns from a swath of New Yorkers upset over the arrival of more than 200,000 migrants from the southern border over the past two years, as well as opposition to homeless shelters and entrenched concerns over crime and inflation.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, congratulated Mr. Trump on his victory during a news conference on Wednesday morning, when he said that he would work with Mr. Trump to advance the city’s interests while protecting vulnerable New Yorkers.
“I intend to defend and fight for our city’s values,” Mr. Adams said, adding: “No matter who is president or what party controls Congress, this city will always stand up for the rights of women, our immigrant brothers and sisters, our L.G.B.T.Q.+ community and millions of others.”
While Mr. Trump has quarreled frequently with top Democrats in New York, he has recently emerged as an unlikely ally to the mayor, who was indicted on federal corruption charges in September. Mr. Trump has argued that both leaders were unfairly targeted by politically motivated prosecutors.
It remains to be seen whether Mr. Adams takes a combative stance against Mr. Trump like other top Democrats and the mayor’s predecessor, Bill de Blasio, who often highlighted how Mr. Trump’s policies hurt the city and openly challenged them.
Joseph Borelli, the Republican minority leader of the City Council, said he believed that Mr. Trump would move quickly to kill any possibility of congestion pricing, to remove migrants accused of serious crimes and to change the SALT deduction, a key tax break that the former president and his party limited in 2017.
“Frankly, I think the majority of New Yorkers would rather see some of the criminals and gang members on the first plane out,” he said. “It’s the failure to understand that which cost a lot of Democrats votes.”
A second Trump presidency could have a major effect on immigrant communities and on the recent influx of migrants to New York City, a crisis that has divided a typically welcoming city.
Mr. Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportations that could be more far-reaching than his aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants in New York during his first term, which instilled fear among the city’s estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants.
Mr. Adams sought to address those concerns ahead of the election at a news conference on Monday.
“Mass deportation — that is not going to happen in New York City,” the mayor said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, also tried to comfort anxious residents on Wednesday: “I want New Yorkers to know that as your governor, I am committed to safeguarding the rights, freedoms and values we hold dear — no matter what lies ahead.”
Mr. Adams and top officials from his administration also pledged to protect abortion rights in the city.
The future of other major projects could be in jeopardy without federal support. Mr. Trump has vowed to kill congestion pricing, a plan to toll cars entering Manhattan’s core to pay for transit upgrades. Ms. Hochul halted the plan in June over political concerns ahead of the election.
In anticipation of a possible Trump victory, elected officials have sought to secure billions of dollars in federal funding for major projects, including a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and the next phase of the Second Avenue subway. Mr. Trump delayed the tunnel project during his first term and could be less supportive of transit projects.
Tom Wright, executive director of the Regional Plan Association, an urban policy group that supports congestion pricing, said that the Biden administration had made critical investments in the transit system that were important to the city’s future.
“Investing in infrastructure has always had bipartisan support, and President-elect Trump has promised to strengthen America’s economy,” he said, adding: “We will be looking to our delegation and leadership in the House and Senate to continue these investments.”
The city has also been moving forward on ambitious climate proposals. Mr. Trump has denied established climate science and rolled back more than 100 environmental protection regulations during his first term.
The city’s public school system is the largest in the nation with more than 900,000 students; Mr. Trump has called for changes to school funding and curriculums. He wants to abolish the Department of Education and to restrict what schools can teach students about race and gender.
His victory could also affect the mayor’s future. Mr. Adams is expected to go on trial in April on corruption charges. If he is convicted, Mr. Trump could pardon him or pressure the Justice Department to seek a more lenient approach at sentencing.
Mr. Borelli, who is considering running for mayor if Mr. Adams resigns, said that the Republican Party was becoming a “bigger tent” in New York.
“There is certainly an ideological shift that is happening within the state and how this plays out on the migrant crisis is that primarily fewer people will come and the drain on our finances starts to get plugged,” he said.
Ahead of a campaign rally on Long Island in September, Mr. Trump vowed to restore the SALT deduction for state and local taxes. The cap of $10,000 that Republicans placed on deductions was deeply unpopular in high-tax states like New York, especially on Long Island, a region that could help determine control of the House.
New York Democrats and grass-roots immigrant organizations were already fretting and vowing to push back against a Trump immigration crackdown, which the president-elect has said will be “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
Mr. Trump is planning to carry out larger and speedier mass deportations than he did in his first term — and without due process hearings. He intends to deport millions per year, according to his advisers. Mr. Trump’s plans are likely to face steep legal and logistical challenges, but, in theory, New York City could emerge as a prime target for his deportation efforts.
“We have been here before, and we’re ready to fight his racist deportation agenda,” said Murad Awawdeh, the leader of the New York Immigration Coalition.
“ICE does not have the resources for this scale of removals,” Mr. Awawdeh said, referring to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, “but the rhetoric itself and the increase in potential raids and other interior deportation operations will surge and send a chilling effect into our community here in New York, pushing people further into the shadows.”
Mr. Trump might find common ground with Mr. Adams on some issues. On Monday before the election, the mayor renewed his call to change some of the city’s so-called sanctuary laws to allow the police to help the federal government deport noncitizens who are suspected — but not necessarily convicted — of serious crimes.
“I thought it was a big mistake to allow those who are dangerous to New Yorkers and other immigrants and migrants — they should not be able to remain in our city,” he said.
Republicans, who are within range of maintaining control of the House, were already basking on their potential return to full power.
Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican who won a resounding re-election in the New York City suburbs, warned that the state’s Democratic leaders would need to learn to make nice with his party if they were going to get any traction in Washington.
“If she wants to actually be the governor of New York, she might want to actually engage with the people who are going to be in power,” he said of Ms. Hochul. “Seems kind of foolish not to.”
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