Voters Wait Hours On The Upper West Side As Turnout Increases

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Long lines to vote in New York City drew criticism from politicians, tested the resolve of residents, and even deterred some Upper West Siders from casting their ballot so far.

A total of 69,805 New Yorkers voted in Manhattan during the first three days of early voting, according to the New York City Board of Election tallies.

The number of voters actually spiked Monday compared with the weekend in Manhattan, as 28,967 people voted that day, compared with 19,877 on Saturday and 20,961 on Sunday.

On the Upper West Side, lines stretched around blocks and people waited three to four hours — sometimes even longer — to get a chance to cast their vote. It's a wait time that New Yorkers have had to endure throughout the city, and the voting turnout and lines showed no sign of slowing down Tuesday on the Upper West Side.

A number of New York politicians have criticized Board of Elections officials for the long lines.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both floated the idea of disbanding the board altogether, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez likened the wait to voter suppression.

Andy Viviano, an Upper West Side resident who tried to vote Tuesday at a polling site on 102nd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus, told Patch that he and his family went home after they couldn't find the beginning of the line to vote.

"We tried and couldn't find the beginning of the line," Viviano told Patch. "After walking a full avenue on 102nd, and asked about the wait time, we were told they had been there for three hours and still had at least another hour. So we went home."

Viviano and his family said they will try again Wednesday.

A different Upper West Side voter, Tom Wakin, described the line to get to the same polling site on Monday like a "figure eight."

"Line started on 102nd, between Amsterdam and Columbus, ran west to Amsterdam, north to 104th, east to Columbus, west to Amsterdam then south to that path that led into the school," Wakin told Patch. "Like a figure eight."

Here are some pictures and videos of the long lines Tuesday on the Upper West Side.

Upper West Side. Hard to tell how long the line is. I’m guessing 8 blocks. I’ve been in line a half hour so far and gone one block. pic.twitter.com/smH3mnuVR8
— Eric Epstein (@erepstein) October 27, 2020

UWS line is 4hrs ... this is like 1/20th of the line

Will try another day pic.twitter.com/dxkKdKO7ij
— Rahel Jhirad (@RahelJhirad) October 27, 2020

Upper West Side NYC early voting. I’m 5 blocks away from the polling place and, we’re told, a 4 hour wait. ⁦@BOENYC⁩ a country facing massive voter suppression by a dictatorship & this is the best we can do? pic.twitter.com/MarfXHKMqt
— Mira Schor (@miraschor) October 27, 2020

You can find your early voting poll site on the Board of Elections website.

Patch reporter Matt Troutman contributed to this report.