NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The NYPD and City Hall are preparing for "prolonged" protests tied to the presidential election results — and officers will be stopping any demonstrations that turn violent "immediately," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has said some Midtown businesses planned to move their outdoor tables inside ahead of election night, WNYC's Brian Lehrer noted in an interview with de Blasio Friday morning.
"What are you anticipating?" Lehrer asked the mayor. "And from what side or sides?"
The city, de Blasio responded, is "prepared for a lot of protests, prolonged protests, potentially different protest groups confronting each other."
"Look, none of us has a crystal ball to know what the result will be, but we've sure been given enough reason to be concerned by the president of the United States suggesting he will not abide by the election result," he said. "It is absolutely sickening and unprecedented."
"It's too early to tell what [the protests are] going to look like. But what we're going to emphasize is peaceful protests, as always," he added. "But if anything turns violent, we're going to move to stop that immediately."
