For ecstatic Hillary Clinton supporters it was a celebration of history in the making, a night of euphoria setting aside moments of past doubt to dream what once seemed impossible.
"Thanks to you we've reached a milestone, the first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party's nominee," she told a packed warehouse of cheering supporters in New York.
The enormity of the moment moved obstetrician Ellen Landsberger almost to tears, having sacrificed her own retirement party to leave work early and bag a prime spot in the front of the crowd.
"If America doesn't elect her it will be a shame on us," she said dressed in "A Woman's Place is in the White House" Clinton T-shirt.
As a girl, Landsberger remembered just one woman in the Senate. In her career she saw sexism in the workplace and now she was overjoyed to see Clinton on the cusp of shattering the ultimate glass ceiling.
"Everyone is so delighted," she gasped. A volunteer for the campaign, she was at the same Brooklyn warehouse two months ago for Clinton's last debate against her Democratic Party challenger Bernie Sanders.
Back then, she remembers the tension as Clinton and Sanders came to verbal blows in their acrimonious rivalry to sew up the nomination. In contrast, Tuesday at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Naval Yard was a scene of "overwhelming joy and happiness," she told AFP.
"Hillary, Hillary, Hillary," screamed the crowd with an deafening energy previously unmatched in an often lackluster Clinton campaign.
Four giant US flags hung from the rafters behind the podium. A live band belted out motivational anthems and pop tracks.
"I feel like we're on the precipice of history, of doing something historic and I wouldn't miss this for the world. I have goosebumps just thinking about it," agreed Will Liu, 30, who works in finance.
- Uphill battle -
He came to Clinton's victory party with his husband, the couple stopping to buy beer from one of a string of bar stands set up with the glittering Manhattan skyline in the distance.
It was a fitting venue for Clinton to celebrate becoming the first woman to win a major party nomination for the White House.
New York is her adopted home and the state that twice elected her to the US Senate. Her national campaign headquarters is up the road. Her family's global foundation is based in New York and it is the home of her much loved daughter Chelsea, now pregnant with her second child.
The Greenhouse from which the lights of Manhattan glitter across the river, is also a high octane venue for the privileged -- playing host to parties, fashion shows and Lady Gaga's recent album launch.
"We really want to celebrate because even though she was ahead in almost everything it seemed like an uphill battle," said Gina Basnuh, a 45-year-old waitress who works in a jazz bar.
Michael Medeiros, a 46-year-old Manhattan dentist born to immigrants from Portugal, was so delighted he came dressed in a Hill for 2016 T-shirt, a Hillary pin on his white cap and even had the cast protecting his broken arm colored blue and red in her campaign logo.
"Amazing," he said when asked how he felt. "I got my beer with me and my little flags and my Hillary gear," he added, a long-time supporter of Clinton who wanted to see her beat Barack Obama in 2008.
"I think by having a female president, she would bring women up and take a place within this country and they deserve it," he said.
Republican nominee Donald Trump, he said to laughter, "should stick to running businesses and let Hillary run the country."
But underneath the festivities, even ardent fans confessed to concerns looking ahead and how well a candidate often criticized for being stiff and weighed down by scandal over her use of a private email server would fare against the brash New York businessman and master in self-promotion.
"You campaign, you support, you donate, you talk about her and hopefully everything works out," said Medeiros.
For ecstatic Hillary Clinton supporters it was a celebration of history in the making, a night of euphoria setting aside moments of past doubt to dream what once seemed impossible.
“Thanks to you we’ve reached a milestone, the first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee,” she told a packed warehouse of cheering supporters in New York.
The enormity of the moment moved obstetrician Ellen Landsberger almost to tears, having sacrificed her own retirement party to leave work early and bag a prime spot in the front of the crowd.
“If America doesn’t elect her it will be a shame on us,” she said dressed in “A Woman’s Place is in the White House” Clinton T-shirt.
As a girl, Landsberger remembered just one woman in the Senate. In her career she saw sexism in the workplace and now she was overjoyed to see Clinton on the cusp of shattering the ultimate glass ceiling.
“Everyone is so delighted,” she gasped. A volunteer for the campaign, she was at the same Brooklyn warehouse two months ago for Clinton’s last debate against her Democratic Party challenger Bernie Sanders.
Back then, she remembers the tension as Clinton and Sanders came to verbal blows in their acrimonious rivalry to sew up the nomination. In contrast, Tuesday at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Naval Yard was a scene of “overwhelming joy and happiness,” she told AFP.
“Hillary, Hillary, Hillary,” screamed the crowd with an deafening energy previously unmatched in an often lackluster Clinton campaign.
Four giant US flags hung from the rafters behind the podium. A live band belted out motivational anthems and pop tracks.
“I feel like we’re on the precipice of history, of doing something historic and I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I have goosebumps just thinking about it,” agreed Will Liu, 30, who works in finance.
– Uphill battle –
He came to Clinton’s victory party with his husband, the couple stopping to buy beer from one of a string of bar stands set up with the glittering Manhattan skyline in the distance.
It was a fitting venue for Clinton to celebrate becoming the first woman to win a major party nomination for the White House.
New York is her adopted home and the state that twice elected her to the US Senate. Her national campaign headquarters is up the road. Her family’s global foundation is based in New York and it is the home of her much loved daughter Chelsea, now pregnant with her second child.
The Greenhouse from which the lights of Manhattan glitter across the river, is also a high octane venue for the privileged — playing host to parties, fashion shows and Lady Gaga’s recent album launch.
“We really want to celebrate because even though she was ahead in almost everything it seemed like an uphill battle,” said Gina Basnuh, a 45-year-old waitress who works in a jazz bar.
Michael Medeiros, a 46-year-old Manhattan dentist born to immigrants from Portugal, was so delighted he came dressed in a Hill for 2016 T-shirt, a Hillary pin on his white cap and even had the cast protecting his broken arm colored blue and red in her campaign logo.
“Amazing,” he said when asked how he felt. “I got my beer with me and my little flags and my Hillary gear,” he added, a long-time supporter of Clinton who wanted to see her beat Barack Obama in 2008.
“I think by having a female president, she would bring women up and take a place within this country and they deserve it,” he said.
Republican nominee Donald Trump, he said to laughter, “should stick to running businesses and let Hillary run the country.”
But underneath the festivities, even ardent fans confessed to concerns looking ahead and how well a candidate often criticized for being stiff and weighed down by scandal over her use of a private email server would fare against the brash New York businessman and master in self-promotion.
“You campaign, you support, you donate, you talk about her and hopefully everything works out,” said Medeiros.
