By Adam Kramer
A Times-Ledger spot check of the heavily Democratic borough found many Queens residents believe all the votes in Florida should be recounted, but they would support GOP candidate Bush if in the final analysis he is elected president.
Unofficial election results showed Gore topping Bush by 377,295 to 115,268 votes in Queens. The Democratic candidate received 74 percent of the borough's vote while capturing 60 percent statewide.
“I don't think it is fair,” said Mary Ann Morin of Queens Village as she sat sipping tea in the Baskin-Robbins on Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village. “I voted for Gore and I think there should be a better way to count the votes.”
She agreed with Gore's legal challenges in Florida and said she thought he has the right to dispute the election. There was no way Morin said she would support Bush and she thought he was presumptuous in declaring himself president before all the legal actions were completed.
“The whole process was legal but not fair,” said Macmchelly Thurel of Queens Village as he waited for the bus with his son under the Queens Village Long Island Rail Road stop on a warm November night. “The decision was made by Katherine Harris. She was the campaign manager for Bush in Florida and should not be involved.”
Harris is the Florida secretary of state responsible for certifying the election and awarding the state's 25 electoral votes.
Because of the large number of ballot problems in the Florida vote count, he was all for Gore challenging the election and thought the United States voting system needs to be changed.
But if Bush finally gets in, Thurel said, “I would support Bush because there is nothing I can do about it. He is the president.”
A St. Albans woman who did not want to give her name said it was time for Gore to step aside and let the election process end, even if Bush is elected.
“How much recounting can there be?” she said. “I would love for him [Gore] to be in office, but it's not in the cards. Let's be done with this already.”
When asked about Bush claiming the presidency just hours after the Florida Supreme Court's deadline for all the votes to be counted has passed even though legal action still was pending, she said “he could've waited a couple of days. Bush needs to take a chill pill.”
Northeast Queens residents hurrying in and out of the post office on Depot Road in Flushing Tuesday morning expressed differing opinions about the tumult of the presidential election and on who should be the next president.
“I think the election is too close and that Congress should vote and pick a president,” said Martin Rudnick of Bayside. “I voted for Gore, but at this point it doesn't matter. I think this has been good for the country. It shows that we have a democracy and that we don't have revolutions. We discuss this as intelligent people.”
But Floral Park resident Nichols Dimoulas said he would like to see what has become a protracted bid for the presidency come to a quick resolution.
“There's all this uncertainty,” Dimoulas said, adding that he thinks all the legal maneuvering is bad for the country. “I'd rather see Gore win, because he seems more intact.”
Bayside resident Erika Griffin wanted all the votes to be counted in the contested Florida communities before an official vote tally could be given, but said the whole process has been taking too much time.
“As long as they're not counting all the votes, they can't call it a fair election,” she said.
Steve Laspakis of Astoria, who moved to the United States from Greece more than 45 years ago, said he and his friends were surprised by the whole election. As a converted Democrat, he thought Gore was the winner of the election.
“Bush is a nothing,” he said.
Kathianne Boniello, Chris Fuchs and Peter Sorkin contributed to this story.
