MANHATTAN— Felix Cruz looked at the Empire State building with a sense of awe and wonderment— for all the wrong reasons.

Five hours before, the street Cruz stood on was bustling with excitement and cheers as New Yorkers— known for their Democratic tendencies— assumed Hillary Clinton would win the presidency. Every time she captured a state, the Democratic nominee’s face was plastered on the tourist attraction and people thought she would be one inch closer to cementation as the first woman Commander-in-Chief. But after Donald Trump stole the battleground state of Florida, jaws dropped and attitudes stiffened. Little by little, people fled from their venues in confusion. Around 3 a.m., Cruz found himself staring at the Empire State Building with Trump’s image and the words, "45th President” under it.

As much as he disliked it, Trump had just been elected Cruz’s new president— and he had to accept it.

“He’s my president and I got to roll with him,” said Cruz, whose voice echoed amid the deserted New York City streets. “It’s a big surprise.”

Cruz, a construction worker, wasn’t the only person shocked at the outcome. Political analysts and predictors had forecast the election to sway in Clinton’s favor, with most polls allotting her a sizable lead. But Trump, who constantly preached of rigged polls by the "rigged media," performed well, snagging key battleground states like North Carolina and Florida and stealing presumed Democratic strongholds like and Wisconsin and Michigan. In total, Trump beat Clinton 276-218 in Electoral College votes. In his acceptance speech — which took place less than two miles from Clinton’s official watch party — Trump praised his adversary on the campaign she ran and attempted to unify the country after a polarizing election season.

“Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country,” Trump said. “I mean that very sincerely. Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. We have to get together. To all Republicans, Democrats and Independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.”

Facebook Live steam in the aftermath of Trump's victory.  Produced by Kailey Tracey

Trump’s call for camaraderie trails a period of divisiveness and opposition some accuse him of directly manifesting. Throughout the past year, Trump has lambasted Mexicans, Muslims, women, African-Americans and other minority groups. At one point, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) withdrew his endorsement of Trump, his party’s nominee, after a decade-old video of Trump talking about groping women was released in October. Cruz, a Hispanic-American, is baffled his country elected someone who has slighted so many demographics.

“How can you insult 75 percent of the world’s population and become president of the United States?” Cruz asked hypothetically. “I have to give it to him — he is a salesman.”

En route to the White House, Republicans also seized the House of Representatives and the Senate. In North Carolina, Richard Burr bested Democratic challenger Deborah Ross for the open senate seat. Earlier on Election Day when Danielle Jones, a Harlem native voted, she said she feared a Trump presidency because of the control it would give to Republicans. With Trump’s coarse rhetoric towards minority groups, she said she couldn’t imagine America with someone like that as its leader. Now her fear has been realized.

“To be quite frank, if we get Trump in office and we get a Republican senate and congress, I think we’re going to be screwed,” Jones said. “I think the state of minorities is going to be in flux and we may not be able to fix it afterwards.”