He\u2019s no longer the Cats\u2019 meow.<\/p>\n
The pressure for Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race is reaching a fever pitch with two weeks left until the election \u2014 as even his boss at\u00a0WABC radio is now calling on him to ditch his long-shot bid.<\/p>\n
Big Apple GOP\u00a0bigwig John Catsimatidis urged the red-bereted Guardian Angels founder to end his floundering mayoral campaign in a bid to consolidate the vote behind ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and beat far-left Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n
New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa talks at 5th Avenue Synagogue in New York City on October 19, 2025. Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n
\u201cCurtis would make the best mayor of all the candidates \u2026 but Curtis has to realize that he should love New York more than anything else,\u201d\u00a0Catsimatidis\u00a0told Sid Rosenberg on WABC radio Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly looks like Curtis should pull out right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The billionaire businessman had been calling for the field of mayoral contenders to narrow since the summer, but previously stopped short of telling Sliwa to bow out \u2014\u00a0telling The Post repeatedly he didn\u2019t want to do that to a friend.<\/p>\n
Sliwa, the colorful 71-year-old conservative candidate, activist and infamous cat lover, has been squeezed by influential GOP members\u00a0and the city\u2019s donor class<\/a>\u00a0to follow in the footsteps of Mayor Eric Adams,\u00a0who ditched his unlikely re-election bid\u00a0<\/a>late last month.<\/p>\n Those amping up the pressure argue a two-man race would boost independent hopeful Cuomo\u2019s chances of beating socialist Mamdani, the Dem Party\u2019s nominee, on November 4.<\/p>\n Sliwa has repeatedly shrugged off the calls to drop out, even\u00a0claiming he\u2019d turned down $10 million in \u201cbribes\u201d\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 but Monday marked the first time his longtime friend, and more importantly boss, pushed for him to hang up his beret.<\/p>\n GOP bigwig John Catsimatidis (center) pleaded for the first time Monday for Curtis Sliwa to end his bid for mayor. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n \u201cHe could win the next election because people will be proud of him for doing the right thing for New York City, instead of the wrong thing,\u201d\u00a0Catsimatidis told Rosenberg on \u201cSid and Friends in the Morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot take a chance on Zohran [Mamdani] winning and every common-sense New Yorker feels the same way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Curtis would be a hero if we beat Zohran.\u201d<\/p>\n The magnate boss of Manhattan\u2019s Gristedes and D\u2019Agostino Supermarkets chains also owns WABC, where Sliwa has his day job as a radio personality, though he\u2019s currently on leave while campaigning.\u00a0<\/p>\n The shocking comments came just weeks after\u00a0Catsimatidis\u00a0publicly said he wouldn\u2019t cross his pal and employee \u2014 despite running a shadow campaign to stave off a Mamdani mayoralty at any cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sid Rosenberg said Cuomo has a better chance to win if Sliwa bows out. Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n Rosenberg also chimed in during Monday morning\u2019s show, noting why the two were calling on Sliwa to drop out now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t do this a month or two months ago, but his poll numbers aren\u2019t going up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rosenberg noted that\u00a0a Cuomo victory<\/a>\u00a0wasn\u2019t guaranteed even with Sliwa out, but said that it would give the ex-governor a better shot.<\/p>\n Sliwa still wasn\u2019t hearing it.<\/p>\n \u201cCurtis is not dropping out; this news does not impact him whatsoever,\u201d campaign spokesperson Daniel Kurzya said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re entitled to their opinions, but there are 15 days to go, and the people will decide who the next mayor is,\u201d Kurzya said, adding that Cuomo \u201cshould go out and get his own votes.\u201d<\/p>\n Sliwa still has the backing of the five GOP county chairs, as well as the support of influential New York Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the party\u2019s leader, President Trump, has repeatedly tried to get Sliwa to ditch his bid, both publicly and\u00a0behind the scenes since at least the summer<\/a>, working to shape the mayoral race into a one-on-one contest.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. Is he a Republican? I don\u2019t know,\u201d\u00a0Trump said of Sliwa\u00a0<\/a>on\u00a0Fox News\u2019 \u201cSunday Morning Futures.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t exactly ideal with where he wants to make Gracie mansion a home for the cats, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n Even if Sliwa bowed out, Cuomo still has a sizable amount of ground to make up.\u00a0<\/p>\n