Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in the race for New York City mayor, fought back once again against new speculation that is considering bowing out — and said he’s been offered big money to step aside.
In an interview with NBC New York, Sliwa claimed Wednesday that some wealthy donors for other candidates have talked to him in an effort to get him to end his campaign. However, he said the money offers had no impact.
“And billionaires out there: You keep offering me millions. I’m going to start taping these conversations,” Sliwa said, before telling News 4 he would provide access to them. “So you can see how much money I’m being offered. First of all, it’s unethical. It’s illegal. It’s a bribe.”
Sliwa didn’t say exactly who had offered him money to leave the race.
What did his opponents say about his claims? A spokesperson for Andrew Cuomo called Sliwa “a liar and a fraudster, who has admitted to faking crimes for publicity.”
As for the frontrunner in the race, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani didn’t overtly share his thoughts on the claims Sliwa made, but did say he would believe him over his other opponents.
“I can tell you that of Andrew Cuomo Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa, I trust Curtis Sliwa’s word the most,” Mamdani said, praising Sliwa for caring more about New Yorkers he is running to serve rather what billionaires want him to do.
The democratic socialist was outside St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, saying that unlike his main rival (Cuomo), he would fight the health care cuts from the Donald Trump administration.
“Andrew Cuomo’s unwillingness to stand up to Donald Trump is a five alarm fire,” said Mamdani.
Cuomo’s team issued a statement in response, saying “Unlike Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo has a record of fighting and winning against Trump on immigration, on COVID and on keeping troops out of New York.”
Meanwhile, super PACs backing Cuomo put out an anti-Mamdani mailer, featuring quotes from supposed New Yorkers criticizing him. But as first reported by the NY Daily News, the ads use stock images of models, not actual New Yorkers. A woman the flyer calls Robinette is actually a model, Maricel A.
“He wouldn’t have to go to a modeling agency to get people to say ‘I don’t like Mamdani.’ I run into them every day,” Sliwa said.
The Cuomo campaign did not offer comment regarding the mailer.
As for Mayor Adams, he has kept a relatively low profile, with official UN-related events but no campaign schedule. On Monday, Adams insisted New Yorkers shouldn’t draw any conclusions from his campaign pace.
“No you shouldn’t take it as a signal. I’m doing what I always do: Run this city while running for a race,” Adams said.