Mayor de Blasio reassured New Yorkers on Tuesday that there were no early indications widespread unrest would sweep through the city as election results come in, but he also stressed protesters should be mindful of trouble makers - and keep their distance.
De Blasio delivered the somewhat mixed message at a City Hall press briefing as voters continued to flock to the polls and as shop owners bracing for the worst hammered plywood in front of their windows to protect against looters.
"If there is going to be protest, as always, it needs to be peaceful. Peaceful protest will always be respected and facilitated, but we will not allow any violence," he said. "I also want to say to those who may choose to protest how much you have an important responsibility as well. If you see anyone suggesting violence or starting to act in a violent manner, move away from them, separate from them, report them."
As votes continued to flood in Tuesday, the city braced for the results of what has been one of the most contentious presidential elections in modern memory. The NYPD instructed shop owners to secure belongings outdoors to prevent them from being used as projectiles. And shop owners from the Bronx to Midtown boarded up their stores.
De Blasio suggested boarding up businesses might be a step too far, though.
Earlier Tuesday morning, he said businesses don't have "a particular reason" to batten down the hatches in that way.
"Based on what we are seeing, there's not a particular reason to do that," de Blasio said on 1010 WINS. "It's up to each store owner, obviously."
© Mark LennihanWorkers board up Bergdorf Goodman department store, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in New York ahead of Tuesday's contentious presidential election.
Workers board up Bergdorf Goodman department store, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in New York ahead of Tuesday's contentious presidential election. (Mark Lennihan/)
The decision to push stores to secure belongings outdoors, but not to board up businesses is based on what de Blasio called the "judgment of public safety professionals."
"I think they are different things," he said.
Images of boarded-up businesses in the heart of Manhattan are not just a familiar sight to New Yorkers, they are being broadcast and shared throughout the country. But de Blasio said he doesn't necessarily view that as a bad look for the Big Apple, but as a byproduct of simmering tensions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and police violence against Black people.
"We are at an unprecedented moment in history and a moment that will pass," he said. "We cannot misunderstand something that was of a particular moment and assume it means something greater than it does."
But many proprietors are still stinging from the looting and chaos that ensued in May and June as New Yorkers took to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minnesota cop kneeled on his neck.
De Blasio said Tuesday that the city is "ready for different situations" on Election Day, but he did not provide much detail about how the city would handle any of them.
"If anything changes, we'll certainly let people know," he said. "Right now, I think the focus is on a safe Election Day and maximizing everyone's participation."