From Vigilante to Mayor? 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa Runs for Big Apple's Top Job
16:00 GMT 31.10.2021 (Updated: 21:07 GMT 19.10.2022)
© REUTERS / EDUARDO MUNOZ / New York City Mayoral debate at the ABC 7 studios in New York
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Curtis Sliwa has led an eventful life, from fighting crime on the New York subway to a Mafia attempt on his life, followed by a career as a radio host and finally a foray into politics. He has pulled no punches in his bid to become mayor of the US financial capital.
A founding member of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa is hoping to become only the fourth Republican to be elected mayor of New York City since WWII.
The 67-year-old vigilante is up against Democrat candidate and former NYPD cop Eric Adams in the race to replace incumbent Bill de Blasio as boss of the Big Apple on 2 November.
Sliwa has been an outspoken critic of fellow New Yorker, former President Donald Trump, calling him a "screwball and a crackpot" and only joining the Republican party this year after staging a 'hostile takeover' of the small Reform Party in 2018.
Red Beret
Sliwa shot to fame as the founder of the Guardian Angels, the volunteer force of unarmed citizens that confront criminals. The group started out in 1977 as the 'Magnificent 13', patrolling the New York subway system under his leadership, before adopting its current name two years later.
Members of the organisation train in martial arts and how to make a legal citizen's arrest. It later expanded to chapters in 130 cities and 13 other countries.
A beret a day keeps the crime away
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 27, 2021
The Guardian Angels were praised by none other than Mario Cuomo, then-lieutenant governor and later governor of New York state and father of recently disgraced governor Andrew Cuomo — and CNN anchorman Chris Cuomo.
But Sliwa did not always see eye-to-eye with the police. He claimed the fatal 1982 shooting by an officer of Frank Melvin, a black member of the Angels' Buffalo chapter in upstate New York, was racially motivated.
Targeted by The Mob
In 1992, an attempt was made on Sliwa's life when he was picked up outside his Greenwich Village home in a taxi cab that had been stolen by mobsters.
A hit-man hiding on the floor of the cab got up and shot him in the leg and lower back. He escaped a third bullet to the head by leaping from the window of the moving car in the middle of Manhattan.
Less than two months earlier Sliwa had been ambushed by three men with baseball bats, who left him with a broken wrist and head injuries.
John A Gotti, son of the famous New York Mafioso John Gotti, was charged with attempted murder over the incident along with Michael Yannotti. Three trials failed to convict Gotti, while Yanotti was acquitted.
Head-to-Head
Sliwa and Adams traded insults in a televised debate on Tuesday night. The Republican returned to his attack line on the mystery surrounding the Democrat's home address — and whether he even lives in the city.
Adams then alleged Sliwa had "hidden money" to avoid paying child support, a claim Sliwa called "scurrilous", adding: "How dare you bring my family into this?"
On Twitter later, Sliwa slammed Adams' plan to meet with criminal gang leaders, including those convicted or suspected of murder, in a bid to reduce street violence in the metropolis.
He said the only gang he would allow in the city was the Yang Gang — the nickname of businessman Andrew Yang's campaign in the 2020 Democrat presidential primaries. Yang unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the mayoral election, before walking out to set up his new Forward Party.
This is Eric Adams’ plan to end violence in New York City. Does this sound sane to you? pic.twitter.com/AopC7XVeRY
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 28, 2021
The YangGang is the only gang that I’ll permit in New York City
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 27, 2021
While Eric Adams cordially meets with the bloods, the crips, and MS-13, I’ll focus on reducing gang activity and crime in New York City!
Policy Platform
The Republican also boasted that his planned reforms to property tax would allow New York's workforce to move back into the city.
My Property Tax Reform Plan will reduce property taxes so much that even Eric Adams will be able to move from his New Jersey apartment and get a home in the boroughs
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 27, 2021
He has vowed to end De Blasio's COVID-19 vaccine mandates that have seen the city's emergency, municipal and health workers who decline the jabs laid off.
The Republican governors of Florida and Texas, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, have already banned such directives even if they come straight from the desk of President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, Sliwa blasted Adams' plan to make immunisation mandatory even for schoolchildren, saying he had met parents who marched in protest against the move.
"We are going to kick them out? We are going to expel them? What kind of compassion and care is that?" he asked.
Adams was equivocal in his response, saying remote learning from home was still an option.
On Day 1 of the Sliwa Administration, I will immediately END the mandates and REHIRE every police officer, firefighter, healthcare worker, and civil servant wrongfully terminated by these mandates
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 27, 2021
Sliwa also accused Adams of being out of touch, chatting to consultants and hanging out with celebrities while the former Guardian Angel was on the streets talking to ordinary people.
Spot the difference. pic.twitter.com/qioz54t3iT
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 20, 2021
We WON the debate!
— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) October 27, 2021
Eric Adams listens to the “experts” and “consultants.”
That’s why he looks like a robot and has no energy or compassion in the debates.
I listen to the people of New York City.
That’s why I’m comfortable, passionate, and compassionate in the debates. pic.twitter.com/UTvVBIz91N
