Is it too late for a Trump presidency? “I get three texts from this guy every day, he hasn’t left yet”

It’s very hot in New York. Do you hold up a little?

“Yeah, it’s very hot here. But I can take it. I’ve been to African countries for stories, and I’ve experienced the heat of Sudan, so I’m used to something. People here say New York is warmer than it used to be. But the city isn’t crumbling on the The spot is like Portland that I wrote about three days ago. There were people Not ready for a series of heat waves. ”

Where are you in New York

“I found an apartment in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. I don’t live far from Domino Park, which is where I go for a run. From there you can have a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. I’m between a Puerto Rican neighborhood and a Hasidic ghetto.”

“I managed to rent this place while I was still in Holland. I’m happy about it then. I recently came out the door and there was a queue of fifty or sixty people in front of my apartment building. They came for a house for rent. Then I thought: I could have been One of those sixty people and I will probably have to search for several months.”

I also lived in New York ten years ago. Has the city changed?

“Yes, I was here for two years, when I got my MA in journalism. Has New York changed in ten years? I have a feeling the neighborhoods are more mixed in composition. I also hear it around: This used to be a very Chinese neighborhood, or an Italian neighborhood, but not anymore I am still trying to figure out how it happened.”

“What’s striking is that there are no tourists from Europe. You had that in Amsterdam during the lockdown as well. You see more of the city when the tourists aren’t there. By the way, New York is always busy. Now too. It radiates the same energy.”

As this week’s reporter, you’ll have a blast with the resignation of New York’s governor for sexual misconduct.

“I was busy on Tuesday working on an article about Senate approval of a massive infrastructure plan from President Biden when Andrew Cuomo announced he was stepping down. On all TV it wasn’t about anything else right away. Then I was like: Breaking news? Guys, I’m still on Biden. Fortunately, I had already prepared something about Cuomo.”

“I went straight into town, to Little Italy, Brooklyn’s Italian neighborhood, and talked to people there late at night. I expected everyone to say it was all right, which Cuomo did. But everyone I spoke to was happy to leave. It may also be because many Italian-Americans work in the hospitality industry, which has suffered greatly from the governor’s strict Corona measures.

“The old generation of Italians in New York, a liberal city, vote Republican. So they had no interest that the Democrat had fallen from grace. Nor did they like the fact that Como describes his physical interaction with others as part of Italian culture. They said you accept your children. your parents, your grandparents, your cousins, but not your co-workers. Many Italian Americans thought it was a cheap defense.”

Wouldn’t you rather be in the United States as a journalist when Donald Trump was in power?

“I get three texts a day from the guy (Through Trump’s campaign for his followers, red.) I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran again. He has not left yet, neither his constituents nor his supporters. The sacred fire had not yet been extinguished. These are still turbulent times. Society didn’t suddenly change after Trump walked out of the White House. Not everyone has returned to work yet and the country has not fully opened its doors yet.”

“Sometimes you notice that the tensions of the past four years still exist when you get close to people. Are you a Democrat or a Republican? In the past I would explain that I am a journalist and give objective reporting. But a lot of people don’t understand that. Now I say: Sorry, I’ve been here since Only three weeks, and nothing yet. Politics and Trump, it’s just one aspect of the country. There are so many stories to tell.”

How do you present yourself? What does your email address look like?

“I tell them I work for”Dutch national newspaper‘It de Volkskrant a little like New York times. My name is complicated: if you explain how to spell it, I’ll soon be another half hour. So, on my own request, I received a modified and simpler email address. I’m curious to see if there are important people in the news waiting for a conversation with a Dutch newspaper. I hope I don’t hear the word “no” too often.