Curtis Sliwa
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Curtis Sliwa (Template:IPAc-en; born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host, and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit crime prevention organization. Sliwa was the Republican nominee for the 2021 New York City mayoral election, which he lost to Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. He is currently a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2025 New York City mayoral election.<ref name="25Announce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Curtis Sliwa was born on March 26, 1954,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> into a Catholic family of Polish and Italian descent, in Canarsie, Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has two sisters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He attended Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit high school from which he was later expelled.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He graduated from Canarsie High School. In his youth, he worked as a delivery boy for the Daily News, where he was awarded the title of "Newsboy of the Year" and a trip to the White House after he saved several people from a burning building while on a paper route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hester" />
Prior to founding the Guardian Angels, he was night manager of a McDonald's restaurant on Fordham Road in the Bronx.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Guardian AngelsEdit
In May 1977, Sliwa created the "Magnificent 13", a civilian group dedicated to combating violence and crime on the New York City Subway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, the city was experiencing a crime wave.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Magnificent 13 grew and was renamed the Guardian Angels in 1979. The group's actions drew strong reactions, both positive and negative.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Most of the Guardian Angels members were either Black or Hispanic.<ref name="Hester">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Unarmed, the group required members to train in karate and learn the legal requirements for citizens' arrest for all members before they were to be deployed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Subscription required</ref> Sliwa's red beret is a component of the Guardian Angels' uniform.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1981, then-Mayor Ed Koch, a critic of Sliwa and the organization, launched an investigation into the Guardian Angels, which, according to The Washington Post, proved "so positive that the Guardian Angels will soon be awarded some sort of official status."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Then-Lieutenant Governor Mario Cuomo was a rare early advocate of the organization, being quoted saying "[t]hey are a better expression of morality than our city deserves".<ref name="Hester" />
In 1992, Sliwa admitted that he and the Guardian Angels faked heroic subway rescues for publicity. He also admitted to having claimed falsely that three off-duty transit police officers had kidnapped him.<ref>David Gonzalez, Police Union To Sue Sliwa Over Hoaxes, The New York Times (November 26, 1992).</ref>
In the early 1980s, he expanded operations to Buffalo and was often critical of local police policies and practices.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One incident involved Guardian Angels member Frank Melvin, who was fatally shot by a Newark police officer in December 1981 after an officer claimed they mistook his unzipping of his jacket – to display his Guardian Angels emblem – as a threat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Fowler">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sliwa claimed that the killing of Melvin – an African American – was racially motivated, and had been done by a White officer who was being protected by the police department, rather than by the Hispanic officer identified as the shooter.<ref name="Fowler" /><ref name="Narvaez">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An Essex County grand jury cleared both officers of charges related to Melvin's death.<ref name="Narvaez" />
Murder attemptEdit
On June 19, 1992, Sliwa was kidnapped and shot by two gunmen after entering a stolen taxi in Manhattan. The taxi picked up Sliwa near his home in the East Village, and a gunman hiding in the front passenger seat jumped up and fired several shots, hitting him in the groin and legs. The kidnapping was foiled when Sliwa leaped from the front window of the moving cab and escaped. Sliwa underwent surgery for internal injuries and leg wounds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Federal prosecutors eventually charged John A. Gotti, the son of Gambino crime family leader John Gotti, with attempted murder and a raft of other charges. Prosecutors claimed that Gotti was angered by remarks Sliwa had made about Gotti's father on his radio program. After three attempts to try him, on September 20, 2005, three separate juries could not agree to convict Gotti on any of the charges brought against him, and the charges were dropped. Jurors later told reporters they believed he had a role in Sliwa's shooting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prosecutors declined to re-try Gotti and dismissed the charges against him. Sliwa said he would seek damages in civil court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Michael Yannotti, a Gotti associate, was also charged with shooting Sliwa in the incident but was acquitted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Media careerEdit
RadioEdit
Sliwa has been a radio broadcaster for three decades, most of that time on WABC-AM, where he began his career in 1990. In 1994, the then city-owned and operated WNYC hired Sliwa, whom WABC had released. Some, including Sliwa,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> have suggested that he was given access to the station by newly elected Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom he had supported in the 1993 mayoral race.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
As a political conservative, Sliwa has hosted various radio talk shows on WABC since 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His longtime broadcast partner was lawyer Ron Kuby, with whom he hosted the "Curtis & Kuby" weekday radio show at noon on WABC-AM in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2000, Sliwa and Kuby became the co-hosts of the long-running Curtis and Kuby in the Morning, which lasted eight years before Citadel Broadcasting replaced them with Don Imus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Curtis Sliwa LIVE program began national syndication on December 1, 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> WABC retained Sliwa until November 2009, when his show was cancelled after a contract dispute.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He hosted both the morning and evening "drive time" shows on WNYM-AM 970,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but as of January 2, 2014, Sliwa returned to WABC, replacing Rush Limbaugh, who moved to WOR-AM.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Starting in June 2017, Sliwa's co-host was attorney and television commentator, Eboni Williams.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His most recent co-host was Juliet Huddy, who joined the show in February 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After officially declaring his candidacy in March 2021, Sliwa's radio program went on hiatus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His programs once again went on hiatus upon the announcement of his second candidacy in February 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
PoliticsEdit
In September 2016, Sliwa and Frank Morano launched a successful hostile takeover of the Reform Party of New York State.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Party lost its ballot access in the November 2018 elections.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In December 2019, Sliwa declared in an interview that he hated then-President of the United States Donald Trump, calling him a "screwball and a crackpot".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In February 2021, weeks after Trump left office, Sliwa switched from the Reform Party to the Republican Party.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sliwa changed parties and lost control over the Reform Party after losing the required votes to keep the Reform Party on the ballot. Bill C. Merrell regained control over the NYS Reform Party and is now again NYS Chair of the Reform Party. The official state Party is again affiliated with the National Reform Party.Template:Cn
2021 mayoral campaignEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Sliwa announced on March 8, 2020, that he would be running for mayor of New York City in 2021 as a Republican, seeking to become the 110th mayor of New York City.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The primary race turned Sliwa and Fernando Mateo, once friends, into bitter rivals.<ref name=Fitzsimmons>Emma G. Fitzsimmons, How the GOP Primary for Mayor Turned 2 Friends Into Bitter Rivals, New York Times (May 25, 2021).</ref> The Manhattan, Queens, and Bronx Republican parties endorsed Mateo while the Staten Island and Brooklyn Republican parties endorsed Sliwa.<ref name=Fitzsimmons/> Sliwa criticized Mateo for donating to the 2017 re-election campaign of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and also accused Mateo of breaking the law; Mateo replied that Sliwa's accusations were bogus and shameful.<ref name=Fitzsimmons/><ref name="BENITEZ">Template:Cite news</ref>
During the campaign, Mateo and Sliwa clashed over loyalty to former president Donald Trump.<ref name=Honan>Katie Honan, Republican Mayoral Candidates Tussle Over Trump, Party Loyalty, Wall Street Journal (May 26, 2021).</ref><ref name=5Takeaways>Dana Rubinstein, Jeffery C. Mays, Jazmine Hughes, Anne Barnard, Michael Gold and Mihir Zaveri, Wiley Wins the Progressives: 5 Takeaways From the NYC Mayor's Race, The New York Times (June 7, 2021).</ref> Mateo voiced support for Trump's claim that he won the 2020 presidential election;<ref name=5Takeaways/> by contrast, Sliwa did not support Trump in either 2016 or 2020<ref name=Honan/><ref>Emma Seiwell, Race for Mayor: Republican Primary A Two-Candidate Race, Gotham Gazette (May 7, 2021).</ref> and does not support Trump's election denial.<ref name=5Takeaways/> The unofficial results showed Sliwa winning by 72 to 28 percent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sliwa ran on a platform opposing the defund the police movement, supporting a property tax overhaul so that working-class residents would not pay higher property taxes than wealthy citizens, keeping in place the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test while increasing opportunities for vocational training in charter schools, and focusing on fiscal restraint.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also opposed the killing of unwanted animals and supported making all animal shelters no-kill shelters, pointing to his own home life with 16 cats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sliwa campaigned on beginning a trial program, if elected, to test out the feasibility of universal basic income in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sliwa lost to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in a landslide defeat in the general election on November 2, 2021, with Adams winning just over two-thirds of the votes. Sliwa conceded that same night, calling for unity in order to save New York City.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After his loss, he brought two cats outside the Brooklyn home of Adams in January 2023, after the latter had been fined for rodent violations, and suggested that feral cats could address the rodent problem in the city.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Anti-illegal immigration ralliesEdit
In late August 2023, Sliwa, along with four other organizers, were arrested after an anti-illegal immigration rally outside Gracie Mansion. Police issued a desk appearance ticket on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstruction, but the Manhattan district attorney's office declined to prosecute. Sliwa had previously been arrested at several previous rallies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2025 mayoral campaignEdit
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On February 13, 2025, Sliwa announced his candidacy to run for the Mayor of New York City in the 2025 race, again as a Republican. <ref name="25Announce" /> His platform includes addressing the housing shortage in the city by repealing current mayor Eric Adams' "City of Yes" proposals, restoring zoning control to "local residents, community boards, and City Council members", and revising the city's zoning laws to "prioritize affordability and community stability". He also plans to address concerns about crime by hiring 7,000 more police officers, pushing for repeal of former Governor Andrew Cuomo's bail reforms, which the campaign says has led to violent offenders being released from custody and committing more crimes, and improving conditions in the city's homeless shelters, particularly for those with mental health issues. His platform primarily focuses on crime in the New York City subways, with proposals for combatting fare evasion, prioritizing prosecution of those accused of crimes against women and minorities in the subways, improving the assistance booths in subway stations, and deploying a task force of certified social workers to assist the mentally ill who live in the subway tunnels. Sliwa also pledges to improve economic conditions in the city by investing in and rebuilding boroughs outside Manhattan where needed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Sliwa has been married four times. He wed his second wife, Lisa Evers, in 1981. At the time, she was National Director of the Guardian Angels<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and co-hosted a WABC-AM radio show called Angels in the Morning. She is also a martial arts expert who briefly trained with the World Wrestling Federation in 1986.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2000, Sliwa married his third wife, Mary (nee Galda), a former WABC employee who also served as the Guardian Angels' national director.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They have one son, Anthony, born circa 2004.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In 2019, Mary became Mary Paterson, after marrying former New York State governor David Paterson, who in turn is the step-father of Sliwa's son Anthony.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Curtis Sliwa was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010, which he announced publicly on AprilTemplate:Nbsp20, 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sliwa was in a relationship with Melinda Katz, the Queens County District Attorney, and separated from her in 2014; they have two children together, conceived in vitro over the previous five years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In court documents, Sliwa's ex-wife, Mary, accused him of diverting money to Katz while still married to Mary, as part of a plan to build a "nest egg" with Katz prior to moving in with her.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On JulyTemplate:Nbsp5, 2018, Sliwa wed his longtime girlfriend, animal activist and attorney Nancy Regula, at the Howe Caverns.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Paterson, David (2020). Black, Blind, & in Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.
External linksEdit
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