New Yorker's React to Bush's Election.

From the Metro, Thursday, November 4, 2004:

MANHATTAN The re-election of President Bush has saddened some New Yorkers and worried others about new terrorist attacks.

"By us voting Bush back in, it says to the rest of the world that we’re okay with the U.S. killing more than 100,000 Iraqis," said Ed Hale, 31, who spent part of the afternoon sulking with two friends in Madison Square Park. "By all accounts, I’m in complete shock. I haven’t been able to answer the phone and have cancelled all meetings and appointments. I’m sitting in the park instead of working."

Hale, who recently moved from Florida and now lives in Midtown, said he now expects the worst. "There will be retribution," referring to the potential of new terrorist attacks. "I’m freaked out."

Joanna Velez said she fears another attack is already in the works. "I bet you [al Qaida] is setting something up right now to attack us," said Velez. "I’m really worried." The 25-year-old Lower East Side resident said she is also concerned with job creation, or lack thereof. "I just wish I had the ability to adjust the outcome of the election," she said. "It’s bad news for our economy."

"I’m very bitter about it," said John Jiler, a writer from Lower Manhattan. "From now on when people notice that their rivers are foul, the economy is in the toilet and young men are dying, they have no one to blame but themselves. I’ve never been more depressed about the state of this country," he said.

Meanwhile, a Democrat who voted for Bush because he was the "best man for the job," said an offensive stance on terrorism remains the best way to thwart another attack on American soil. "The terrorists will try again, so we have to get going after them," said Kevin Glennon, of Staten Island. "It’s obvious Bush does a better job on terrorism than Kerry would have."

JOSHUA RHETT MILLER josh.miller@metro.us