On the Bowery in the East Village. I’ve noticed that a lot of the Obama posters and stickers put up during the election would soon be scratched and torn. But I imagine if someone had the temerity to express their admiration for McCain in a sticker that it would not survive long at all in this neighborhood.

President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday unveiled change.gov, a Web site that will provide details on the presidential transition.

“Change.gov provides resources to better understand the transition process and the decisions being made as part of it,” according to a blog post. “The Obama administration will reflect an essential lesson from the success of the Obama campaign: that people united around a common purpose can achieve great things.” PC Magazine

Here’s where you can send your hopes and fears to the new administration:
Tell us your story
Share with us your concerns and hopes.

Obama’s Flickr Stream

I WENT TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT
TIRED FROM THE FIGHT
IVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR TOMORROW ALL MY LIFE
YEAH I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING BRAND NEW
CAUSE THE DREAMS THAT IVE BEEN DREAMING HAS FINALLY CAME TRUE

ITS A NEW DAY (5X)

VERSE 1
ITS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING
UP THE MOUNTAIN KEPT RUNING
SONGS OF FREEDOM KEPT HUMMING
CHANNELING HARRIET TUBMAN
KENNEDY LINCOLN AND KING
WE GOTTA MANIFEST THAT DREAM
IT FEELS LIKE IM SWIMMING UPSTREAM
IT FEELS LIKE IM STUCK IN BETWEEN
A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE WEVE BEEN THROUGH THE HEARTACHES
AND LIVED THROUGH THE DARKEST DAYS
IF YOU AND I MADE IT THIS FAR WELL THEN HEY WE CAN MAKE IT ALL THE WAY
AND THEY SAID NO WE CANT
AND WE SAID YES WE CAN
REMEMBER ITS YOU AND ME TOGETHER

CHORUS
I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING ALRIGHT
IVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR TOMORROW ALL MY LIFE
YEAH I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING BRAND NEW
CAUSE THE DREAMS THAT IVE BEEN DREAMING HAS FINALLY COME TRUE

ITS A NEW DAY (5X)

VERSE 2
ITS BEEN A LONG TIME WAITING
WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT
ITS BEEN A LONG TIME PRAYING
PRAYING FOR THIS MOMENT
AND HOPE FOR THIS MOMENT
AND NOW THAT WE OWN IT
CLOSER IMA HOLD IT
AND I WONT LET IT GO
THIS IS FOR OUR FATHERS, OUR BROTHERS, OUR FRIENDS WHO FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM, OUR SISTERS OUR MOTHERS, WHO DIED FOR US TO BE IN THIS MOMENT
STOP AND CHERISH THIS MOMENT
STOP AND CHERISH THIS TIME
ITS BEAUTIFUL AINT IT
WE DID IT FOR HER AND HIM AND HE AND SHE AND YOU AND ME TOGETHER

CHORUS
YEAH I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING BRAND NEW
CAUSE THE DREAMS THAT IVE BEEN DREAMING FINALLY COME TRUE
YEAH I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING ALRIGHT
CAUSE WE WASNT FIGHTING FOR NOTHING
AND MALCOLM WASNT FIGHTING FOR NOTHING
AND MARTIN WASNT DREAMING FOR NOTHING
AND LINCOLN WASNT TRYING FOR NOTHING
AND CHILDREN WASNT CRYING FOR NOTHING

Song Credits:
“It’s A New Day”
Produced by will.i.am
Written by: William Adams

November 4th, 2008. In the area around the Army recruiting station, ABC has several large video screens and their news center. A large crowd of what was probably 99% Obama supporters spontaneously gathered to watch the election results together. I included three clips from Obama’s victory speech, dubbed over the video.

Times Square is the traditional place for New Yorkers to gather for the observance and marking of big events. I knew there would be the large video displays of the election results, that it would be bright enough there for my camera to shoot video. Around 9:30 when I could see that the results would tip soon, I took the F train to Times Square.

For the most part the crowd could not hear what was being said on the screens. I was able to hear the speeches with my trusty battery powered portable transistor radio, way out-of-sync with the various video feeds displayed around me. I’m surprised no one in that large crowd thought to bring a boombox. It was interesting being there, but there was little cohesion to the crowd. Video was flashing 360 degrees. Animated Budweiser ads displayed over the NBC feed all night. The ABC camera crane swooped over our heads, generating random screams and waves at the camera at intervals. I’m glad I was there to witness history, and get this video, but it would have been good to hear the speeches along with a crowd actually listening to the words. ABC had a sound system that boomed out over the street, but it must have been highly directional. It was only a muffled background cadence when I was a half-block away.

Irene Roxanne has posted this truly joyous video she shot from her bike of the spontaneous crowd in Union Square. The downtown crowd showed much more energy than the media driven and police cordoned crowd midtown.

Here on the Lower East Side, voting was smooth and easy. At 9 AM there were lines but they moved quickly. Go do it.

Polls close at 9 in NYC, 8 in the rest of the State.

Report voting irregularities:
www.866ourvote.org/
1-866-OUR-VOTE

Live results map on CNN.

People posing with candidate cut-outs in Tompkins Park.
reportell.com