{"id":196141,"date":"2025-09-03T06:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T06:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/196141\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T06:36:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T06:36:25","slug":"curtis-sliwa-says-hes-the-alternative-to-leftist-politics-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/196141\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Sliwa says he’s the ‘alternative’ to leftist politics in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Curtis Sliwa<\/a>, the colorful creator of New York City\u2019s Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol group, ran for mayor four years ago and wound up losing to Democrat Eric Adams by almost 40 percentage points.<\/p>\n

This time around, the red beret-wearing Republican believes the math may be more in his favor.<\/p>\n

Even in an overwhelmingly blue city, the 71-year-old hopes that with three polarizing candidates splitting the Democratic vote, he can maintain the support he secured last time while picking up backers from the other side of the aisle with his message that he\u2019s best positioned to fight crime.<\/p>\n

Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, a 33-year-old state lawmaker and democratic socialist, is the Democratic nominee<\/a> after upsetting former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary. Cuomo<\/a>, who resigned as governor four years ago after sexual harassment allegations, is running as an independent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Adams<\/a>, wounded by a federal bribery case and the Trump administration\u2019s extraordinary intervention to drop the charges, skipped the primary altogether and is instead campaigning for a second term as an independent.<\/p>\n

\u201cZohran obviously is very unique. He\u2019s way to the left, but then again, Cuomo and Adams, listen to the way they talk. They\u2019re Zohran-lite,\u201d Sliwa told The Associated Press. \u201cI will be the alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the city\u2019s Democratic primary race used ranked choice voting<\/a> \u2014 allowing voters\u2019 second, third, fourth and even fifth preferences to be counted if their favorite candidate doesn\u2019t secure enough votes \u2014 that\u2019s not the case in the general election. So the person with the most votes on Election Day will be the new mayor.<\/p>\n

Even if he doesn\u2019t win, Sliwa might play the spoiler. While some Mamdani critics have urged Sliwa to drop out and throw his support behind someone with a better chance of beating the Democratic nominee, Sliwa says that isn\u2019t happening.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang\u2019<\/p>\n

Sliwa is hoping to ride to victory on crime, an issue that helped Adams, a former police captain, win the pandemic-era 2021 election.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Democratic primary was dominated by discussions of New York\u2019s high cost of living, but Sliwa believes crime is \u201cbeginning to creep up and almost be equal\u201d to other issues voters care about.<\/p>\n

Sliwa\u2019s Guardian Angels \u2014 a band of beret-wearing citizens \u2014 patrolled graffitied subway cars and the rough-and-tumble streets starting in the late 1970s, when crime was rampant. The city, by every measurable metric, has gotten much safer. So far this year, the city has had its fewest shooting incidents and shooting victims in decades. Crime is down this year in nearly every category, according to police.<\/p>\n

But in Sliwa\u2019s telling, crime is \u201cexploding.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Bronx, \u201cblood is pouring from the streets.\u201d The \u201cmadams and pimps\u201d on the outskirts of Queens need to be arrested and the \u201cJohns\u201d should be named and shamed. When women ride the subway, they get \u201cperved on,\u201d Sliwa said.<\/p>\n

If the crime stats won\u2019t paint the picture, Sliwa is happy to.<\/p>\n

As Sliwa spoke with a small gaggle of journalists on a street corner at a recent campaign stop, he illustrated an argument about the statistics by forming his hand into a gun \u2014 a \u201c9 millimeter,\u201d he said \u2014 and pointed it at his surprised spokesperson. \u201cBang, bang, bang, bang, bang!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In another interview, he recounted how, in 1992, he was shot multiple times in what prosecutors later said was an attempted mob hit<\/a>. Sliwa had been blasting Gambino crime family boss John Gotti on the radio. The mob boss\u2019s son, John \u201cJunior\u201d Gotti, was charged with ordering the shooting, but multiple juries deadlocked and prosecutors eventually gave up the case.<\/p>\n

\u2018Still trying, still striving\u2019<\/p>\n

Sliwa, like President Donald Trump, has long been a larger-than-life New York City tabloid figure.<\/p>\n

His campaign has shades of some national Republican talking points \u2014 bashing the state\u2019s bail laws and saying the National Guard should patrol high-crime areas. But he has also criticized some of the president\u2019s actions and urged him not to weigh in on the mayoral race.<\/p>\n

For many years, he co-hosted a local radio show with left-leaning civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby. More recently, he\u2019s become an animal-rights activist, and his large collection of cats featured prominently in his first campaign for mayor.<\/p>\n

George Arzt, a veteran Democratic political consultant in New York, said Sliwa\u2019s appeal boils down the fact that he\u2019s \u201creally a likeable guy\u201d who\u2019s \u201cenjoyable to hang around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy who\u2019s enjoyable to listen to, but does he spout the Republican line? No. Is he a Democrat? Certainly not,\u201d he said. \u201cBut he\u2019s someone you like listening to. He\u2019s funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

But many voters in the city are also aware of Sliwa\u2019s baggage from decades portraying himself as a crime-fighter \u2014 not always honestly.<\/p>\n

In 1992, he admitted to faking<\/a> several of the Guardian Angels\u2019 early exploits, including a story that he was kidnapped by transit police officers and a tall tale about returning a wallet with $300 inside to an elderly mugging victim.<\/p>\n

Last year, members of the Guardian Angels roughed up a man<\/a> in Times Square while Sliwa was doing an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity about crime by new immigrants in the city. Sliwa told the host that \u201cour guys have just taken down one of the migrant guys,\u201d and baselessly accused the man of being a \u201cshoplifter.\u201d The man was from the Bronx.<\/p>\n

But his message still resonates with some.<\/p>\n

As he strolled up and down a Bronx block recently, shaking hands and passing out campaign cards, he ran into Noemi Molina, 62, who froze at the sight of him: She had known about Sliwa since he started the Guardian Angels and had been seeing him in the news for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still trying, he\u2019s still striving,\u201d said Molina, who said she would vote for him. \u201cHe\u2019s still trying to get things done. He\u2019s trying to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

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