Letter from New York: Donald Trump divides opinion as tensions bubble below surface

Outside Trump Tower, the New York home of America’s divisive president, it is back to business as usual — on the surface at least.

In the absence of Donald Trump, who has not been back to his hometown since his inauguration in January but whose wife Melania and son Barron remain, the 58-storey building on Fifth Avenue has ceased to be a focal point for his detractors.

Cars honk, tourists pause for selfies in front of its garish black and gold façade and the protesters of the early days of the presidency are gone.

But while day-to-day life continues, you don’t have to look far to find tension bubbling under the surface.

Around the corner, Patrick, who was too frightened to give his surname for fear of it affecting his green card application, summed up his feelings on the president’s first 100 days.

The Brazilian said: “It’s scary. I’m an immigrant so I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s made me feel vulnerable, scared, insecure.”

Fellow New Yorker Blaine Klusky, 49, who works in the energy industry, was more positive — describing himself as “cautiously optimistic”. He backed military action in Syria and thought the first 100 days “have not been awful”.

In Fifth Avenue, New York University theatre student Jose Pelegri, 19, disapproved of the new president but said he was “proud” of the way the city has reacted since he took office.

“The city has changed. There’s more activism now that there’s something to work against,” he added.

Although New York voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton — the Democratic candidate won 79 per cent of the city’s votes overall — Mr Trump triumphed in Staten Island. Downtown, the tone of residents as they came off the Staten Island Ferry was in sharp contrast to their Manhattan counterparts.

One young Republican, who would only give her first name, Rosemary, proudly said: “I agree with most of the things he is doing. He’s just started but he’s going to do great.”

Eric Moore, 50, a Staten Island resident, added: “[I’m] 50/50. I like that he reinstated the border enforcement, I like that he’s encouraging companies to come back. What I don’t like is so much on Twitter, it causes unnecessary drama.”

But most importantly he wanted to see action on healthcare, for which he currently pays $514 (£400) a month. “It’s killing everyone who owns their own business,” he said.