This event was originally planned as a rally to protest Trump’s underhanded attempts to undermine the election. A coalition of groups including Black Lives Matter, gay rights activists, local community organizations, and NYC labor unions were slated to band together to protest Trump’s actions.
However, shortly before the rally started, it was announced that Joe Biden was the projected winner of the 2020 election, and instead of a protest this turned into a victory celebration.
Due to the enthusiasm in the city, the rally grew very large, gaining New Yorkers that took to the streets spontaneously in large groups. Many people began celebrating with American flags, confetti, wine and champagne. It reminded me of a New Year’s Eve celebration.
The group took the celebration to the streets with a march from Columbus Circle (59th street) all the way to Madison Square Park (23rd street), while being cheered by onlookers along the way.
Several large spontaneous rallies appeared all over the city in similar fashion, most notably in Times Square, which ended up having to be sealed off to traffic by the police due to the sheer amount of people celebrating.
On a side note, this was an unusually warm day in NYC for November (temperatures were around 72F / 22C) and that certainly added to the large amounts of people celebrating.
